ok heres the deal im a vegan,my partner is omni,we are moving in together,this agian no prob,we are clear i dont touch buy cook wash any meat things in the house,he totaly respects that and its not a prob,now.........we were talking the other day and he said that he one day wants us to get married have kids ext,great as i love him,then i thought ok what experiences do couples who have kids within a vegan/non vegan household have had? i mean how does that work i would want to bring them up vegan not to push my believes on them but i think based on my believes it will be healthier for them,but at the same time i want to take into concideration what my other half feels its not fair to say 'we are doing it this way!' he has a say in raising our kids to,when i aid this to him he didnt reaklly respond choosing to 'cross that bridge when we get to it',but it got me thinking how will i approach that ,can anyone offer the benefit of thier experience.

hmmm... that's tough stuff. personally i think that discussion is akin to a religious discussion. you know like you were catholic and he was jewish - how would you raise the kids.... like all things of that importance you need to discuss it beforehand. and one of the things to consider is who will do the cooking?!?! i'm lucky. my ex moved away and my new dh and i are on the same page with the boys. good luck!

moving this to the parenting forum.

So you guys will cook separate meals for the rest of your lives (or until one of you changes)? That might be an interesting experience/problem in itself.

If I were in your situation, I would cook vegan meals for my kids. If they eat with me, they're going to eat vegan. When they're old enough, I'll explain to them why I have my beliefs and let them decide for themselves. If they decide to eat meat, then they can cook their own meals and pay for the meat with their own money.

If your husband cooks a meal with you, feed your kid the vegan meal you make. If he insists on the kid eating meat/dairy/eggs then there's a problem. If he's unwilling to back down and let the kid eat all vegan (until he/she is old enough to decide), you might have to compromise with him. The kid eats vegan a few days a week with you and omni a few days with him. It'll definitely be an interesting decision you two will have to make together.

Just my opinion on the situation. Dunno if it helps at all.

I don't know anything about raising kids or what nutrition they might need in lieu of adults' but I would raise the kid ovo-lacto. That way you kind of compromise between vegan and omni and it won't be so difficult for the kid to get his/her nutrients.

I plan to raise my children vegan, not ovo-lacto. Why send them the message from the beginning that they can't get adequate nutrition with a vegan diet? Why tell them from the get-go that it's okay to support industries that cause wholesale suffering and slaughter? Vegan children with caring, attentive parents grow up quite healthy.

I plan to raise my children vegan, not ovo-lacto. Why send them the message from the beginning that they can't get adequate nutrition with a vegan diet? Why tell them from the get-go that it's okay to support industries that cause wholesale suffering and slaughter? Vegan children with caring, attentive parents grow up quite healthy.

Sorry, mate :) I'm not a vegan so I really can't say anything at all! I was only suggesting to the thread creater that, since her partner, is omni, it would be better for the kids to at least be raised meat-free than nothing at all.

I was only suggesting to the thread creater that, since her partner, is omni, it would be better for the kids to at least be raised meat-free than nothing at all.

Certainly. I'll take any reduction I can find.

[QUOTE=Grantith]So you guys will cook separate meals for the rest of your lives (or until one of you changes)? That might be an interesting experience/problem in itself.
[QUOTE]

Yep! I am a lacto-ovo and I cook for the WHOLE family...mom, dad, husband, kids (2) and I have to cook them an omni meal and me a veg meal. It is okay...you learn to get around it..it's a dance..really. I don't like my food to touch theirs...and it does work if you really want it to.

My kids don't eat meat when they are with me. They only eat meat when one of my omni-family feeds it to them and it makes me CRINGE!



(help me..how can I partially quote???--it always comes out wrong)

SL1031, the end quote needs a slash / in front of it. [/QUOTE]


... Anyways, kel, I don't know, but I suppose you ought to ask your boyfriend what his thoughts are on the matter and go from there.

Threads that you might like to look at. :)

Here's a thread (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=14992&highlight=raising+vegetarian+children)

Another thread (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=14622&highlight=raising+vegetarian+children)

Another thread (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=10783&highlight=raising+vegetarian+children)

And one for the road (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=10824&highlight=raising+vegetarian+children)

I'm L/O my spouse is omni, we decided to raise our future children as omni's. This was OUR choice as a couple to raise our children this way. I did not want my husband to feel isolated or create an environment that fosters "me against you". My husband and I work as a team and we make make decisions together. My motivation for being a vegetarian is primarily my own health and wellbeing, I simply choose not to consume it. I realize that others motivations are not as simple as mine. If you're motivated by Animal rights and/or the environment you probably disagree with me and that's ok.

DO NOT let him get away with "well cross that bridge when we get to it". It ultimatly leads to resent. Come the future kids first thanksgiving, he will think twice about "that bridge." Whether or not to have children is a very important part of marriage. Consider how they will be raised before bringing them into the world, this includes thier spiritual upbringing, schooling and dietary preferences etc etc. I've seen too many relationships fall apart due to choosing to put off important moral, religious and dietary decisions.

My husband and I dealt with the issue and have had a happy ending.

I was veg for a year and a half and he was still omni.
Our son was just beginning to eat big-people food and grabbed a chicken nugget off my husband's plate. We just looked at each other and he must've seen something awful in my face, as well as a tug in his own heart, because he took the nugget out of Evan's hand and became vegetarian, too, pretty much at that moment.

I guess all the time I spent reading exerpts out of my Animal Lovin' Propaghanda (sp??) must've worked on my husband internally, despite all his comments about inviting our friends the chickens and fish over for a sleepover, and other nonsense comments that poked fun at my veganism.

Now both hubs, son and I are vegan.

Not so our teenage daughter, though. She's an omni, but such a sweet and dear young woman who never gives us grief about anything. I consider myself blessed to have her (jerky-loving and all) as my daughter, and tolerate her corpse-eating gracefully, as long as she doesn't ask me to cook or touch the stuff.....

Good luck to you!
My only advice would be to get the decision made before the baby comes, and read sad and scary statistics to your husband in bed at night!

I am a newbie to all of this respectively but I think the issue is akin to religion, and other non-tangible things like beliefs. I truly believe kids are people first, children second. Yes, it is my duty as a parent to guide them towards what I believe is right and protect them. But in the end...they do have their own minds. It's up to them to decide. Certainly when I am dead and gone- they will have to cook for themselves. I would rather them choose a veg lifestylye from my example rather than refute it due to my demands when they were young.
Make veg. meals so long as they don't notice they aren't eating what they're friends are. When they broach it with you, sit them down and tell them everything; why you do it, why their father does not (if that's the case). Kids have the right to know- and then decide what they choose for themself. :)

Hubby and I were both almost vegan when we met and married in '99 (just couldn't give up the darn cheese!). I became pregnant and shortly thereafter we both began eating meat again. I have been an on again off again vegetarian since then (I guess you could say we were 'semi' vegetarian) until now, 2 kids later. The kids have both had meat before, but never really showed much interest in it since we only ate it like twice a week. One day DH said 'lets go vegetarian again'. I haven't bought meat since. Now the kids, the way I see it is this: We won't be buying or bringing any meat into the house, but if they are say, with Nana and Papa or at a friends house and they are offered it, it is entirely their choice. I can only teach them by setting the best example I can. My son has never liked 'cow' and my daughter is so young still she doesn't know the difference.

my husband is a veggie!

BUT truthfully I would not have married him or had children with him if he had not agreed to raise the child vegetarian. Somethings in life are not up for discussion and this is one of them for me.

Kimberley