I welcomed them into my home somewhat reluctantly. All I'd seen, at preschool drop-off, was a writhing box full of icky grubs. So when I was asked to babysit the silkworms for part of the holidays, I said yes even though I wanted to say no. In any case, I figured Lola could do all the requisite picking up and putting down. I wasn't going to touch them.
I tended to them dutifully, foraging for their mulberry leaves and feeding them every couple of hours. I cleaned out their box every day and tucked them away at night. And what do you know, I started to quite like them. Within a day or two, I was picking them up without getting squeamish. Ooh, so lovely and soft and silky. They were due to spin their cocoons, so I knew we had something to look forward to. When the first one formed, I was mesmerised.
I think I became a bit obsessed. One night as I lay in bed drifting off, I imagined massive fat grubs slithering up the stairs to smother us in our sleep. Perhaps I was getting too close. I greeted them first thing in the morning. I checked up on them all day long. Sometimes I just gazed. If I was quiet enough, I could hear them munching away on their leaves. "Wouldn't you prefer to stay home and watch the silkworms with me?" I asked the GM a couple of nights ago as he was leaving to see some friends. Lovely silkworms...
I am transformed. (Insert metamorphosis metaphor here, if you must.) I feel like a long-held distaste for wriggly things has been blown away. Where to for me now? Could I have a pet tarantula? Slugs?
And suddenly there are mulberry trees everywhere. I discovered three new ones just yesterday on a walk I do several times a week, and I'd never them noticed before.
This morning I said goodbye and handed the silkworms back to the preschool director. The kids will watch as the others make cocoons, then reappear as flightless moths to lay their eggs. The house feels a bit empty without them. I admit, when I went to pick up my girl this afternoon, I glanced around, hoping to see my silkworms just one more time...
