Just had difficult chat with my son....
My son, who is 7, has just got a new Encyclopedia, and was in the shop with me this morning, reading parts of it, when he stumbled upon a section on farming animals.
He proceeded to tell me that only 'bad' farmers kill the animals, the 'good' ones just 'look after them'. Well, feeling like a real nasty, I had to use the opportunity to tell him the truth about these farmers, and what happens to all their animals, including the dairy Cows. Although he has been raised vegetarian, he still had some fantasies about farms.
He was very, very upset and says he will now think about going vegan (he currently has no dairy or eggs but does eat things which include these ingredients). I just have to win him over with my cooking and baking - a new challenge!!
At the moment I feel like THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, though I am proud of my son's reaction. He asked if we could adopt lots of farm animals when we move, so no-one could eat them! (I'll have to see how large the garden will be!!!!!!!!!!).
I hope I handled this chat in the best way today, it wasn't easy to see my little boys eyes filling with tears, but they must know the truth - musn't they? :(
The "Big Talk": How do I explain veganism to my kids?
After wuggy posted about her own brave confrontation with a parent's greatest fear - her child's tears (see here ), I was inspired to maybe do the same with mine. But I don't know how.
When I went veg*n, I told my children (boy, aged 5 at the time, girl, aged 3 at the time). Now they're 6 and 4. For my daughter, it was too abstract to really understand. With my son I went somewhat over the top, by constantly confronting him with meat being killed animals, etc. My wife luckily put stop to that very quickly.
So, my wife, being the supportive soul that she is, helped me turn the household into an ovo-lacto vegetarian one. When I told my son that they're not getting meat anymore, he pleaded with me, in tears, to still be allowed cheese. How could I resist?
Some time later, he asked me to be allowed to eat chicken again. I asked him if he understood the significance of eating meat, i.e., that a chicken had to die for his meal. He did, and seemed to be ok with it (!). So I made a deal with him that he can eat chicken in restaurants, an we would talk about it again in a year's time.
Both of my children are rather picky eaters (dunno how that happened - I'll eat anything). Both of them loooooove cheese pizza (obviously, with sauce, too), and we often make that ourselves at home, with my part having no cheese, and lots of other good stuff instead :) . It's also something easy to find at restaurants. My son loves bread, pb&js, yoghurt, peanut buter, milk, pancakes, waffles, cheese, some cereals (not always with milk), pita, flat bread. My daughter likes some breads, pb&js with very very thin pb, yoghurt, milk, cheese, some cereals, and nuts. They have both tried soy milk, and didn't like it much (which I can understand, as it does taste very yeasty). Oh, and of course, they both love chocolate.
Now, I am very very bothered by my son's desire to eat chicken at restaurants, however I want him to arrive at the logical conclusion on his own. I would also like to move them both towards veganism.
My children are both very sensitive (they get terrified by most Disney movies), which I am happy about - I definitely don't want them losing that!
They are also both very stubborn, so me telling them what to do is rarely successful.
They are both very supportive of my choices, and will make me soy-based "food" in the toy kitchen. Even sometimes "soy vegetables" :)
Any advice on how to convert them with a minimum of trauma would be very appreciated!
Re: Should we voice our disgust at animal carcasses on public display?
As someone who grew up without meat, I think the best thing you can do is honestly share with them the ethics of veganism (which I have no doubt you will do anyway) while not pushing it as the most important issue (above other things). If they get the feeling it is something you would force on them, or push too hard, they probably won't make that decision based on the Right things. My mother never told me why we never ate meat. After a decade of her vegetarianism, she gave up. She sort of got depressed and figured "I guess this is what we're supposed to do". I didn't start eating meat with her, but after a couple of years, I just wanted to know what it was, in terms of food; I never really thought of what it REALLY was. I was just curious why other kids ate it and I didn't, so I asked my dad (who always ate meat) if I could have a Big Mac. I fell in love with the sauce they soaked the (pathetic excuse for) lettuce in, and it became my favorite thing until I came to my senses. My mom was also health conscious, so I was raised on whole grains, carrot bread, fruit, sprouts, etc. (which I now thank her for), but because she made it seem so important (and failed to give enough variety; I got sick of the same foods), from ages 12-18 I ate nothing but lunch meat, white bread, and cola. Then, of course, I came to my senses.