Heather

[Guest guest]

Dear Mercy, In re of your questions about Heather.

That day in the grocery store I just told her the

truth, that meat is animal. Before that, she, like

many children, I'm sure, thought that meat was made in

factories like cereal, bread and the like. As adults

we have somewhat been trained to not think about what

meat is, but from her perspective, this was barbaric

and I am inclined to agree. My husband is a fireman

and even though he is not vegetarian, I try to cook a

vegetarian meal at least three times a week. He even

has the guys at the station trying polenta, boca

burgers, etc and they are liking them too! Heather

may not change the world, but she sure gets a lot of

people thinking.

Regarding other children she goes to school

with...Heather and her brother go to a magnet school,

very republican oriented. She is the only vegetarian

in a school of 1500. It is a farming community. At

first, the kids gave her the whole " Thats weird " but

she was only in 1st grade when she started eating

lunch with the other kids.

As the years have passed (Heather is now in fourth

grade)her standered answer is this. " I made a

decision. Just because it's not the same decision you

make doesn't make it bad. My decision doesn't hurt

anyone, and I'm healthy, too. " that pretty much them

up and leaves the normal mentality of 4th graders with

their mouths hanging open saying " What in the world is

she talking about? " She takes care of herself pretty

well! She makes me smile so much to see such

determination in a kid. I probably have more problems

with the teachers and the other parents more than the

kids. Heather had actually temporarily converted a

group of little girls who were throwing the meat from

their lunches away. I had several angry parents

calling me then! I had to explain to Heather in her 9

year old world, things are very black-white,

right-wrong and we allowed her to make that choice,

but other parents may not choose to do that with their

kids. They think I'm a weirdo, I think I just love my

daughter and would never force her to eat something

that she felt was morally wrong. It's not like a

picky eater that refuses to eat meat. Heather loved

Bologna, bacon and hamburgers just as much as other

kids.

I appreciate all of the people writing me back, and

you, too. I am always looking for kid-friendly

recipes and cool ideas for lunches. The support of

other parents means a lot. Linda Reyes

 

 

 

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