Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Good thing I practiced?

So.... About a month ago, my older son, Kadin, who is 8, decided to be a vegetarian. Now, this doesn't come to us as a total surprise. Kadin has always been fond of animals, and he has voiced concerns about meat consumption for years. But when it boiled right down to it, he didn't want to give up eating meat.

Then in mid-October, the husband watched Food, Inc. Kadin watched part of it with him. Apparently, though I don't think the intent of that movie was to turn people off meat consumption altogether, that was the conclusion that Kadin drew. He decided he wanted to become a vegetarian. It took a couple of days to put into practice on his part, but he's now been a vegetarian for a month. He had one 'slip' that I know of, and that wasn't even his fault. Someone(not me or the husband) gave him something to eat that had chicken in it. He didn't know and he ate it. He told me about it later. I told him I was sorry, and we both moved on.

This has been.... somewhat challenging. We eat quite a bit of meat in this family. We've cut back a lot over the last six months or so, but it's still in our diets almost daily. Kadin used to really, really like meat. Steak, chicken, fish, you name it. And he would eat a lot of it if given the option. This has been adjustment for all of us. I've been making separate meals for him, getting creative with his packed lunches, and so on. He can no longer buy lunch at school as an occasional treat because there are rarely vegetarian options. That's ok, though. We're also all learning to like cheese pizza.

I am really proud of Kadin. He saw something he didn't agree with, and he decided to do something about it. He doesn't feel eating meat is right, so he's decided he will not do it. He mentions sometimes that he'd like us not to eat meat, too, and I have to say.... his dedication is inspiring. The idea of eating animals doesn't sit well with me, but I admit I just like it. Maybe I'll develop some conviction.