Vegetarian Kids - Parenting Advice

Hi! It's been while since I've posted on these boards. I'm pregnant, vegetarian/vegan for 17 years, first time mom and I have a million thoughts running through my mind about baby to be.

I don't know any vegetarian parents with school aged kids. I know it's very soon to be thinking about it but I was wondering what struggles you go through or how life is with a vegetarian child, specifically a boy. Husband and I are both vegetarian and are planning on raising our child vegetarian until they are able to make the decision on their own. I feel like society is more accepting of vegetarian girls than boys, but I could be wrong.

I guess what I want to know is do they get picked on for what they eat? Are school and social functions difficult? Do you always pack their lunch? How do you explain it to them? Any other tips or advice that you can think of would be very helpful!

Thanks!

 

My kids are home schooled but they have lots of friends who are not home schooled and 99% of kids don't care.

 

Perhaps you should raise your child like any other family and let them decide in the future whether or not they want to take on the personal life style choices you have made.

 

Everyone raises their families in the way that is normal for them. If it is normal for her to be vegetarian, she's going to raise her family that way. We are all raised within the norms of our families and we grow up and decide if we want to stick with that. I would've preferred to be raised vegetarian or vegan, especially because of all the health issues I had, luckily as soon as I was off to college I was able to create my own sense of normal...I don't blame my parents for not raising me to eat healthier as that would've been ridiculous, it wasn't normal for them. My kids have already made the choice to stay vegetarian, even when people have offered them animal products because it's normal to them and they like the lifestyle they're living. They're free to eat differently or create their own norm in any other circumstances they see fit when they're older.

 

I can understand that.

 

Not if it means feeding them McDonalds, CocaCola, potato chips, candy bars, and whatever else most people feed their kids these days. How is that any better than feeding kids a vegetarian diet? I am not a proponent of vegetarianism or veganism, but that way of eating is surely preferable to the Standard American Diet, which only leads to obesity and chronic disease.

 

I knew a woman once with a child raised vegan. She constantly purchased supplements and minerals to shove down that kids throat because they weren't getting the nutrients etc. from a strict vegetarian diet. How was that a healthy diet for that child? May have seen a smile on the kids face for once if somebody bought him a happy meal.

 

There's a million different ways to be vegetarian or vegan. Not everyone who eats this way does it healthily but it's perfectly simple for many people to eat a healthy diet as a vegan or vegetarian.

 

My oldest daughter is 2 and has only had meat once and that is when my dad babysat and let her eat her cousins leftover spagetti and meatballs (and i was pretty upset)
if when she is older she wants to start eating meat that's up to her, but i won't buy or prepare it.
Her grandma works as a cook at a daycare so when she starts preschool we won't have to worry about her getting it then, but once she starts public school she'll pack her lunch.