The KInd Life Community Forum

I have been working towards a Vegan lifestyle now for 3 weeks. Only a few hiccups of licking the spoon to my daughter's yogurt. Here comes the tought part, I'm starting to develop a problem cuting up and preparing food for my family. I also run a home daycare.

The way I look at this is that I need to get myself 100% on board of this Vegan lifestyle and ensure that I'm giving my body what it needs by taking out meat and dairy in my diet before I intro to my kids and husband. My husband will have to make his own choice if he wants to take this path. I hope he does and by sharing the things I've learned, he is open to trying my recipes as I call myself head chef in the house. I have 2 young kids, 5 and 4 and both were raised eating meat and dairy as both my husband and I didn't know any better and were following the Canadian food guide as per our Doctor and all the media out there showing healty as meat and dairy.

So.....I plan on showing our kids the yummy choices they make but at a young age, I can't be too descriptive as to why I chose to not eat meat and why they shouldn't. I just keep telling them they they need to eat healthy choices to grow and become strong but they love their Chicken nuggets ( not McDonalds...I wouldn't allow my dog to eat there ) I make our own but now, I feel horrible preparing it. After watching Earthings, the images are in my mind and it is what drives me to become Vegan knowing that I'm not contributing to such violence...but here I am preparing for my family.

Any thoughts on how other's changed their family eating habits. I can't tell them what happens to animals- I am honest when we go to the grocery store and they see the lobsters and I tell them that they are there waiting to be eaten- I have one who looks like she will follow in my foot steps but the other is putting a buger on the BBQ with my husband.

In my household, we are four, my husband, myself,my 14 year old son and my 11 year old daughter...my kids where raised mostly vegetarian, but they would eat meat once in a while with my husband...I have always been a vegetarian and have been vegan since one year. My daughter followed in my footsteps and we love to discover new vegan recipes together...my husband and son still eat meat and dairy...however they prepare their own meat...BUT....they only eat meat once a week and that is not because I told them to...I came to realise that when you change your way of eating and living and you do it with love and determination the people around you will naturally follow...little by little I would talk about my values and my thoughts on being kind...and I would give out facts on animal cruelty. Since your kids are so young it is best to keep it on a positive note...for example we are eating tofu because we are kind to the planet...we are drinking soy milk because cow milk is for the baby calves..etc etc...kids will eat anything you put on their plate if you are confident that it is something good for them...

Just be yourself and be confident with your choices and they willl do like mommy most of the time is better than not at all..

you can make tofu nuggets and veggie burgers and veggie dogs...all of my kids friends eat vegan when they come to our house and they don't notice!!!! It is doable!