3rd place in Derby #253: Insects, Bugs, & Arachnids (But Not Worms, Because Gross), with 587 votes!

As kids, butterflies are one of the first really cool things we learn about. A little caterpillar spins a cocoon, takes a nap for a few weeks, and poof! Butterfly. Neat, right? The truth, as usual, is way more complicated, but in this case it's actually even cooler.

Kids like butterflies because the idea of a metamorphosis is so completely foreign it's fascinating. Not to mention the obvious parallels we can draw from a tiny, grubby little worm suddenly finding itself adorned with beautiful, graceful wings. That's neat. Kids like that sort of thing in a metaphor, the whole, "someday it'll be different" thing.

But you know what's even cooler? Caterpillars don't just "turn into" butterflies. Caterpillars actually dissolve in their cocoons into a protein soup that basically builds a butterfly from scratch. So it's not such a great metaphor for the transition to adulthood, unless puberty involved you turning into a bag of meat soup at some point. 

Sometimes we spare kids the harsh realities of what's really going on because it's more enjoyable to keep them enthralled with the fairy tale a little longer. But sometimes the truth, while a little harder to explain, is just so much cooler that you're doing a disservice to your kid if you don't let 'em in on it.

Wear this shirt: To the butterfly house. Duh.

Don't wear this shirt: While making your own "special protein soup." Gross.

This shirt tells the world: "I have more money than I know what to do with."

We call this color: Blackalis

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