What kind of establishment are you running here?

Madison loves bugs. I adore that she is a girlie girl and gets dressed up, but she also has no fear of getting dirty and catching bugs.

The other day she came inside with a moth, and proceeded to tell me that she was going to make a nice bed for the little guy. These days nothing shocks me that comes out of my daughters mouth, so I just went about my business.

About an hour later, I discovered Maddie in her room. She was singing to the moth. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me she was singing a song to help the moth sleep.

Then, she continued to show me the set up that she put together for the bug. This is what my wondering eyes beheld:

at a quick glance I just saw that she had turned a basket over and laid a towel on top. I also noticed their was some miscellaneous garbage on top of the towel. But then I look a little closer...

When I really squinted I could see the moth. I was actually surprised it was tolerating this bizarre behavior.

Madison then told me about the accommodations that she had prepared for the bug. Here you will see the moths head sticking out of a piece of paper, this is not any typical piece of paper. No, it is a band aid wrapper that Maddie covered the moth with for a blanket. Then, she tore a small piece of card stock for the pillow, and ever so gingerly placed it under the moths head. As if that wasn't enough she then found her Polly pocket (a tiny doll) pink purse, and laid that by it as well. I asked why she gave the moth a purse, and Maddie told me matter-of-factly "Mommy, I want this moth to have a great time in the hotel I made for it."

I had to work at stifling my laughter. I couldn't believe Maddie had gone to quite a bit of trouble to put together a four star retreat for this dirty little thing.

Once again, I was intrigued that the moth hadn't tried to get away. Was the moth actually snug as a bug on a rug?? Did the band aid wrapper actually provide some sort of warmth under the fragile paper? Could the cardboard pillow truly feel like a feather bed? Did the the moth somehow believe that the purse was an authentic Prada handbag?

Unfortunately, none of these options were the case. When I inspected a little further I discovered the moth was dead. Oh, dear what would I tell my sweet girl that just spent a great deal of time trying to be the perfect hostess? I knew she would be crushed if she realized the gravity of the situation. I decided I couldn't watch Madison mourn over her new best friend, that just happened to be one inch long!

After Madison had gone to play outside for a while. I disposed of her new friend, and told her that the moth had checked out of the hotel. That way I wasn't exactly telling a lie, because indeed the moth HAD checked out. I just didn't tell her to what capacity!