I’m a truth-telling mom, most of the time. I don’t shy away from the tough topics, and my 3-year-old daughter knows more about the uterus than the average adult male. But when it comes to my vegetarianism, I’m a big fat liar.
I never meant to be a vegetarian. As a small child, I made the connection between the cute animals at the farm and ones on my plate and vehemently refused to eat them anymore.
My mom indulged me, working hard to find alternative sources of protein so I wouldn’t stunt my growth. This wasn’t easy in the pre-Whole Foods 1970s, so props to her. That said, I am only 5’2”.
As a grown-up, I still love animals, but I’m fine with people eating them, especially the humanely raised cage-free sorts. Unfortunately, after decades of avoidance, I’ve completely lost my taste for burgers and wings. Most meat — even the leanest, most ladylike chicken breast, is totally gross to me.
However, I feel strongly that animal protein is an important part of a balanced diet for a growing child, and I’ve bent over backwards to become a mom who may not eat meat but cooks it with a smile. This is sometimes a little scary, because I’m serving my daughter food I haven’t personally sampled (hello, Salmonella?). Luckily, my husband is usually willing to be her royal taster.
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I’m a vegetarian and I feed my 20 month old son a pescatarian diet, with eggs and milk. I was like you, and couldn’t eat my animal “friends”. I’ll never go back to eating meat or poultry and I will let my son try anything he wants when he’s old enough to know to ask for it. I won’t be fibbing to him about mom’s eating habits/choices. I am proud of the choice I’ve made and I know he’ll appreciate my efforts and sincerity no matter the outcome, vegetarian or not.
Completely understand your POV, but will be interesting to see how you answer his questions when he’s a little older. My daughter ADORES chicken. I truly can’t bring myself to tell her why I don’t eat it for risk of turning her off her favorite (healthy) food. I just tell her it’s not my favorite.
I also never LOVED poultry or meat. I always got a bone, an artery or little chicken hairs. Yuck. Further, I’ve worked in veterinary medicine and with human tissue for years. The very thought of any tissue as food nauseates me now. That’s all my truth, and that’s all I’ll tell my son. I won’t feel guilty for my choices or make him feel guilty for whatever choice he makes. He already eats healthier than any meat-eating kid around! I have friends who (politely) challenge my views, while their kids will only eat chicken fingers, hot dogs and french fries. I can only protect his innocence for so long. The ugly truths from fairy tale lies will be divisible by him faster than I care to ponder :/
Keep me posted!