Moms of vegetarian kids: a question - Page 2

[Stella_luna]

My friend's DD became a vegetarian at age 4 after spending a weekend on a farm and swimming in a giant pond with a bunch of fish. She made the connection that fish are, well, fish, and started asking about other animals and what meat they become. All on her own, she stopped eating meat once she connected that meat used to be animals.

[smallmama]

My son is 3 and (almost always) chooses not to eat meat when it is available to him, but I am a vegan and prepare only vegan/vegetarian things for him so it's not as big of a stretch for him probably. He's very outspoken about the ethical issues of eating animals, though.

ETA: Regarding protein, tofu/soy is definitely not necessary. Beans, nuts/seeds, and whole grains more than fill our quota.

[hteb83]

I hated eating meat when I was a toddler, it had to be hidden in other food where I couldn't identify it - I managed until I was 11 before I refused to eat it any more and became veggie. My best friend was vegan and I thought the ethics made sense - I don't think I ever really made the connection about animals = meat like some of the others in this thread!

(And I agree about the tofu phobia, I've been veggie 15 years and only recently started to like tofu!)

[texmati]

We're south asians, and quite a bit of the indian/hindu population is veggie, and tofu is def not a staple! Your fine without it, esp if she's still doing dairy.

[WhiteHorse]

I am not a vegetarian, but my sister is - she became a vegetarian in the 4th grade after going to the farm and feeding the lambs. Later that night, my grandmother served lamb for dinner and my brother started baaaing at the table. She is 37 now.

[kitty waltz]

My daughter is soon to be 9 and has decided over the past 2 wks that she wants to be vegetarian. I don't eat meat, and recently her stepdad decided to join me. She also made the meat=animals connection, and doesn't want any part of it. I am so lucky that she is not at all a picky eater!

[heathergirl67]

Honestly, we need less protein than people seem to realize. Don't get me wrong, protein is important. I recently started tracking my diet on a mainstream website geared for athletes. They're supposed to get even more protein than average folks. And I've found that I'm almost always at or near my protein goal with literally NO thought about "have I had enough protein today?" It seems (at least in my experience) that when I focus on having a all-around healthy diet, the protein falls into place without effort. HTH!

ETA: Oh yeah, I thought I should add that I'm a vegetarian, not a vegan. But I don't really care for cheese, so I'd say that the only animal source of protein I get on a daily basis is the milk in my cereal. Just wanted to clarify!