Instead of wondering all the time (son wants to eat non-veg foods)

[favorite kitty]

I should just ask the experts :)

A quick background on us. My fiance, daughter (whom is 12), and myself are total vegetarians. my son is 6 and he eats only vegetarian at home. i wont allow meat in my home. sometimes he wants his school lunch. he likes chicken nuggets :no:once in a while when we go out to eat he will have something with meat in it. he knows where meat comes from but must choose not to think about it. any time he asks questions about this we are completely honest with him. he will come home with just about everything i packed him for lunch when i send him to school with a home lunch. it is even with things that he will eat at home.

anyway, the point is that i want him to become a complete vegetarian but i feel terribly guilty to push my feelings and views on him. i know its the right thing to do for the animals, our environment and our health. but he doesnt yet. im so torn. i explain to him that its unhealthy and not very loving to eat some of the foods he does. do i make him bring his lunch everyday like his sister does and TELL him he needs to eat it? or, do i allow him to choose what he eats, in a way, and wait to see if he changes his mind on his own? i dont want him to rebel or be upset with me for "making" him be like us. i also want him to eat enough to be healthy. eating school lunches is NOT going to do that for him, nor is having him bring a lunch that he will not eat :(

[MrsKey]

He's 6? Tell him what to do and refuse to give him money to spend on products you have a moral and health related objection to.

I'm an on again/off again vegetarian. I do not force my husband to eat vegetarian foods. He's an adult with adult sensibilities and his own money.

Your son is 6. All the money he spends is yours. You have every right to tell him what you will and will not spend money on. He's a child. You're the parent. It is your job to make decisions for him in his best interests that he is not yet able, ready or intellectually and emotionally able to make for himself.


Edited to add:

You wouldn't give your child money to buy poison, cigarettes, alcohol, crack or other things that you know to be bad for his health just because you didn't want to force your views on him, right? Same thing. If you are truly convinced and believe that eating meat is unhealthy for him then you really have no choice but to cease buying those things for him. It is a moral obligation for a parent to do everything within their power to ensure that their children are raised to the best of their ability. Which means making choices based on what you believe and/or know to be best for them.

He isn't old enough to really understand these issues with full comprehension and make an informed decision. That's why he has you.

[hoodedclawjen]

have you found out why your kid won't eat his packed lunch? did you ask him why he's not eating it? he might just be too excited and distracted to eat it, not feel hungry at lunch, or there could be something about it that he's not happy with. often kids like to feel like they fit in with their peers, and if his lunch looks very different to theirs, that might be one of the hurdles to getting him to eat it.

if so, there are lots of little things you can do to make his lunch more like his classmates, without making it non-veg*n. if everyone else has cookies or crackers- you could get some relatively healthy, but normal looking veg*n ones (or even one or two oreos, if they are veg*n near you!).... etc. a slice of vegetarian pizza, some veggie chiken nuggets, or a veggie dog in a bun, instead of a sandwich (or even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich), combined with some non hippy-looking chips (some of these (http://www.robscape.com/files/roberts_gourmet_products.php) are cool, and not horribly unhealthy!) might not be amazingly nutritious, but if its gonna get eaten, its a step forward from where you are. you might even get away with getting a piece of fruit in there, if its in the right format!

you could even employ a little negotiation, and let him help pick whatever veg*n lunch stuff goes in there for a few days a week, and give him a relatively free rein - within reason- as long as he promises that it actually goes into his mouth at lunchtime every day.

[Fona]

He might be embarassed with what he's being given, talk to him about it.
It might be worth giving him a meat substitute and see what he thinks or if he's still not happy give him meat for his packed lunch.
Its a lot healthier if he eats what you give him not what he choses himself at school. Its your choice a chicken sandwich made of non-processed meat from home or processed, unidentifiable meat-mush coated in breadcrumbs that he'll find elsewhere.
I'm not saying its the best option, but its something to consider. He needs to eat when he's at school, if he misses a vital meal of the day it will affect his energy and concentration levels.