bex
08-29-2005, 09:47 AM
For background...we are mostly vegetarian as a family. I buy a chicken maybe every three months or so and we eat tuna once a week probably. Last week I was eating dinner with all three kiddos while DH had a meeting. Somehow we were talking about the word "bait" and fishing. DS1 (5yo) kept getting a very sad look on his face as we talked about the fish dying. He's a very sensitive kid and I ca often tell by his face what he's thinking. I said, "G, do you think it's bad to kill animals to eat them?" He teared up and said, "Yes Mommy." I asked him if didn't want to eat animals anymore. He said, "No, and I don't want you to either!" :giggle We went on to talk about the few things he eats that are meat. When we eat out, he usually gets pork momos (it's a dumpling thing). I asked him, "What about momos?" He said, "Cheese momos aren't meat." :heart We didn't get into the fact that we are trying to cut down on dairy too. He said he doesn't mind eating tuna because tuna melts are his favorite. :rolleyes I think a lot of this for him is that we live in a very rural community. The poultry farm is just down the hill from us, our neighbors have chickens, and cows roam the roads (and our yard unfortunately). Buying a chicken here means legs and head are still attached and other meat is butchered in the open air in front of your eyes. We've seen a man carry off a huge yak head from the market. You really can't detach meat from animals like you can in the US. Even the words for meat don't cover up what it is. Instead of "beef" and "pork" we say cow-meat and pig-meat. At least the animals here are treated better before they're killed. I told DS a little about the difference in how animals here and in the US are raised. He said he REALLY didn't want to eat any animals when we move back to America!