The KInd Life Community Forum

unfortunately i dont have any advice regarding what to tell your son- other than you are doing for him what you feel as best, which is your job as a parent, so dont beat yourself up!!!

i also just wanted to add that i worked in day care for a long time, and we paid very very special attention to what the kids ate- especially the ones with special diets. we had a child whose parents did not want her to eat meat, and i remember one day i happened to glance over as she was reaching out for the chicken nuggets (what is it with chicken nuggets?!? lol) on the next child's tray. i seriously LEAPED across the room to pull it from her hand- lol. thats how it SHOULD be. you are entrusting the staff to take care of your child they way that you would. thats what you pay them for!!! sure, as a teacher i can tell you sometimes it may be a pain in the ass, but thats the reality. we had a child once who had such a bad allergy to dairy that she couldnt TOUCH it, im not exaggerating. sure, thats a pain at lunch table. but oh well. that's my job.

so dont feel bad, and stick up for yourself!!

@ Krysten thanks a lot, that really made me feel a little better. One thing i have been a little nervous about is talking to the teacher, i dont want her to be like OMG her is a crazy obsessive mother. and i felt like i shouldnt say anything to her b/c i felt it was my job only to worry about being vegan and it shouldnt be a worry of the teachers, but i guess sometimes it takes words from others to kinda knock u upside the head for things to make sense. And yes, i do pay a pretty penny for him to go to this school, so i guess i should stick up for what i feel is best for my son!!! Thanks for your words.........

@Bradley, I was thinking about the farm/zoo thing this morning. I talked with him a little bit about the chicken nugget as well. I explained (once again) that in order for people to eat nuggets we have to take the life of an animal and its not fair to them. I have seen that perticular segment of jamies (gross) thank you for sharing it so i could see it again!!! Anything helps...........

Not sure how helpful this will be - but I grew up in a household that NEVER had junk food. Nothing, so soft drinks, chips, biscuits, etc. I was always grumbling about this, hated having nothign 'fun' to snack on, and when my friends came over there was nothing entertaining to eat! Going to parties, or friends houses seemed so amazing because I could eat junk! BUT, when I turned about 17/18 and began to understand anything about health (actually understanding, not just knowing that eating Maccas every day is bad...), I became so grateful I had been brought up in a healthy environment (Omni family, but as healthy as they know how).

My point being - naturally your little four year old is going to think that chicken nuggets are the bees knees for a certain time, even if its just because he hasn't had them before. But there will most certainly be a time when he looks back and goes "wow, I'm so grateful that my mum had the sense to bring me up healthily". :)

i agree with the others, educate him on animals. and maybe give him gardein and other fake meats, so that he can feel like he's not so different. they make tons of good fake chicken products and such. might be worth it as he's so young and can have a tough time with understanding and balancing the pressures from school friends.

The crazy thing is i have a calender of food they will eat that month I get up every morning to make his lunch. i know tues day is burger day and so i send a veggie burger, wed. is pizza day so i make pizza with soy cheese, thursday is chicken nugget day, i put "crispy strips", when they have hot dogs or corn dogs i make sure to put veggie ones in there. I realize he is only four and there will be slip ups here and there, i just wish there was a way of explaining to a four year old that its ok to be different but i guess where we live its not that easy to live a "different" kind of life. I know things will get easier as he grows (i hope). =) Once again thanks so much for the upbringing words. I really needed the support!!