I figured that it would be a challenge to raise a vegetarian kid. I figured that at some point, Fox would go to a friend's house, and the friend's parents would forget and feed him meat. I assumed I would face challenges like that. But I didn't think it would happen so soon.
My son is 10 months old. Today, at daycare, someone fed him a cheeseburger. When my husband first told me, I was shocked. How could that even happen? I made it clear through communications with his teachers, both orally and in writing, that Fox is not to eat meat. I suppose with the holiday things are out of sorts, because someone who isn't normally in the infant room was the one in charge of him, and she didn't know. She felt bad.
Well, she should feel bad. What if Fox had an allergy? What if we had a religious stance that forbade eating beef? What if, what if. This is a big deal to me. Our family has made a conscious decision to be vegetarian, and it is something we take very seriously. It seems so irresponsible to me to be so careless as to disregard the wishes and practices of a family. Not everyone in the world is vegetarian, I know that. But I think every family has certain views on how things should be done. Some parents spank, while others are against that. Some let their babies cry it out, while others rock them to sleep each night. Some feed them meat, others don't. How difficult can it be to be mindful and respectful of what we feel is right? We do pay 215$ a week for three days of care. Is it too much to ask?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Check It Out:
Blog Archive
About Me
- Cruelty-Free Mommy
- I am a mother who is suddenly finding that she knows it all and MUST SHARE WITH OTHERS! I have two sons (one born 1.07 and one due 4.09), a husband, a sweet doggie and a fiesty cat. Most of my days are spent with my family, reading, going for walks, visiting free local places, and watching movies. In my spare time, I teach high school English. I am a lutheran pacifist vegetarian who tries very hard to influence others without being a pushy jerk.
5 comments:
Part of what we resist is that eating meat is the default position in our society. Whereas for many activities/behaviors, the choice comes in the DOING, when it comes to animal consumption, the choice is in ABSTAINING.
Now, my self-righteous high horse position would be as follows: isn't it odd that killing animals for the pleasure of their taste is the default position, while choosing not to kill animals for the pleasure of the taste is the divergent choice? Which of course gets at why/how we are raising Fox to be a vegetarian: if when he is old enough, he chooses to eat meat, that is his choice--but we're making the behavior a choice, not abstention the choice.
But vegetarians are almost constantly conscious of the moral nature of food: because everybody has to eat every day, and because we take deliberate actions to preserve our morality in our eating choices, we are always aware of our food. For meat-eaters, this isn't the case: food is just food, and there is rarely a moral tinge to food. So I can understand why a meat-eater might not even think about giving a baby a cheeseburger: for her, meals don't come with a moral consideration. Granted, when you're providing food for other peoples' kids, there probably should be a heightened awareness of what is acceptable for that child (as you note, we have a "mere" moral objection, while some children might have health conditions/allergies that require abstention).
We should note that the directors of the daycare center were very concerned and apologetic about the error: they seemed to understand the significance of the issue to us. So it really was one error: the center as a whole is very sympathetic and accommodating to vegetarianism.
Is it just me or does it seem odd for a daycare center to feed your 10 month old a cheeseburger regardless of whether or not you have chosen vegetarianism? Is that what most 10 month old non-vegetarians eat?
Personally, I would think about finding a vegan daycare home and pull out of the center. When I worked at one (way back in the 90"s) I remember there was a child who was accidentially fed meat and we were told not to tell the parents as "it really didn't matter anyway, it's not an allergy". I'm worried your center may not be taking you as seriously as they would over a nut allergy. If you love the place, ask them to place signage the same way they would for an allergy. Also, will they substitute meat, and with what? Sorry, not trying to be so bossy the first time I read your blog! Just some random thoughts...
I think that Quinn brings up an important point but I feel the opposite way about it. It would have been very easy for your daycare providers to have considered this a one time accident and chosen not to tell you. "What mom and dad don't know won't hurt them." However, the fact that they were upfront and honest about it shows that they do care about your beliefs. They recognized that they made a mistake and they wanted to own up to it. I think that was very commendable on their part. Daycare providers know that your child is the most important thing in the world to you and they do their best to live up to that responsibility, but in the end they are human. In the hustle and bustle of the day, with staff coming in and out to accomodate breaks, new staff memebers etc, misunderstanding and mistakes do happen. Be thankful that they were honest. Don't let your frustration over one incident take your son from what otherwise sounds like a loving, responsible center. Also, asking that his dietary needs be posted along with a photo is an excellent idea.
Post a Comment