To think that these parents are a bit mad?

[Mummy2Bookie]

I know a family who have 3 dc's. All the children have strange embarrassing names, including one name that is a favourite for pet cats!
The children are not vaccinated and are very strict vegetarians. No meat, no fish no gelatine. But it doesn't end there. They are Also not allowed any raisins, sweets, chocolate etc basically anything with sugar.
I once saw ds1 hiding in a corner eating a jelly baby at nursery. Their ds1 also will not eat veg, so he is basically a vegetarian who will not eat veg and so eats nothing really. His parents will not alter his diet.
The youngest ds has seizures that the doc says he will grow out of. Doc says it may be a nutrition deficiency, but mum and dad will not alter his diet either. Ds1 has speech difficulties, but mum and dad are not worried.
At nursery ds1 and ds2 cannot have yogurt with the other children, only melon and apple.
Ds1 has told me that mum eats crisps and dad eats chocolate but the dc's have none.
It's none of my business but am I being unreadable to think this is a bit mad?

My cat used to be called Kitty when she was sweet. Now she is called Shitty because she decorates my house with, well you know.

earwicga - you confuse me as you say 'It's a shame you didn't have the convictions of your beliefs' my beliefs are that children need meat in their diet therefore i will bring my children up as mini meat eaters, so your statement make little sense to me and like i said earlier being a vegetarian was my choice why should i then push that on my children, they can make their own mind up as and when they want to.

CakeCuresAll - its a looooooong story, but to cut the story short it makes me physically sick to eat it, which has been over 10 years now.

Strawberry. my children have never eaten meat in their lives. They're now 15.5 and nearly 14 and are (and always have been) in remarkably good health. Neither they nor I have ever taken supplements either.

Where you get this odd idea from that children "need" meat in their diet is beyond me.

StrawberryTot - like Vallhala says, nobody needs meat in their diet. You have taken a choice to feed your children meat and have pushed that on them.

Vallhala - i didn't realise that it was an odd idea, last time i checked it was only my opinion, and honey if it is beyond you then maybe you should broaden your horizons a little to include other people's ideas/ opinions you might find it fun :o

earwicga - haha you make less and less sense to me i don't push meat at all like i said 'they can make their own mind up as and when they want to' if they don't want to eat the meat then they don't have to, i'm not nor have i ever been a finish everything on your plate kind of mum, i would however prefer they ate it as i think its good for them, but that doesn't mean they will.

Our family is dairy free, because I think squeezing a cow's tits and drinking what comes out is just vile.

My cat is named Celeste.

Dd came home from school with farking nits last week.

Make of me what you will.

Oh, and YABU! Mind your own.

I had a vicious old rescue cat called Butch once.

Please let that be what the vegans have called their dc?

I don't understand why people think that a vegetarian diet for children is depriving them of something. Very strange attitude imo.
Depriving suggests it's something they need. They don't. I was brought up vegetarian as were my cousins, and none of us have any major health problems or require supplements. We all have a varied diet.

My friend has a cat called Ian

well I don't agree with meat eaters depriving their children off beans and lentils, poor things

Wow, lots of touchy veggies out there, but the OP may not be being that unreasonable - the thing that made me think !?! was that the kids aren't allowed raisins. This indicates an obsessive degree of restriction on the diet, much more than not allowing them meat.

I'm a bit biased on this one. I don't disagree with parents raising their kids veggie, but I do strongly disagree with parents raising their kids on sugar-free, fat-free diets.

This is because, when I was 12, I had to go to the doctors as I was constantly ill and tired. Turned out I had malnutrition, due to my parents obsessive adherence to 'healthy' food guidelines that are aimed at adults. I did eat plenty of (lean) white meat and fish, but I wasn't getting enough fat or natural sugars!

I was very ill for a long time, puberty was delayed and my immune system is still pretty ropey. So no actually, it's not reasonable to ban your kids from eating perfectly healthy foods like raisins because you are obsessive about sugar, any more than it's reasonable to damage your kids with any other weirdo obsessions that have taken over your life. Kids need more fat and a higher calorie intake than adults.

(and I'm not classing vegitarianism with 'weirdo obsessions' before anyone starts...)

I feel bad for my parents, because they were trying hard to do the right thing, but kids aren't adults and they need more carbs, fats and sugar and shouldn't be put on a low-fat, sugar free diet unless they're porky.

Perhaps they are allowed un-sulphured raisins DiamondBack?

I'm not feeling like 'toughy vegy' - just correcting misconceptions.

I'm sorry you were so ill - kids do need fat and sugar, absolutely! It's also rubbish to turn food into good and bad foods. Everything in moderation is much better.

I am not a touchy veggie, I just hate people being so misinformed about it! And using words like 'deprive'.
The OP didn't really clarify whether she was against the 'strict' vegetarianism. Which sounds like just normal vegetarianism...

Where has the OP gone?

I agree that children do need more fats and sugars in their diet to make it balanced. But I do think there are healthier ways to provide these.

And I'm wit Skyrg - I don't think I'm being all that touchy - just trying to set a few myths straight. :)

One friend has a cat called Clifford and another has one called Alfie..

as a matter of fact raisins are hideously bad for teeth which may be why these children aren't allowed them.

perhaps they get their sugar from other sources. fresh fruit and juice for example

Er, Climberchick my DS is a meat eater, but also loves beans and lentils...

What a lot of drivel... try harder OP.

I once had a cat called Trotsky.

Well. It was the 80s and I was a politics student..

...despite my hankering to call our new fluffy strawberry blond kitten Chairman Miaow, I was overruled.

He is called Boris.

Yes. After that Boris.

My how times have changed....

...the kitten does eat gelatine though.

But we do try and limit his screen time....

My nickname is Binka, loads of people call me Binka. Infact some people don't know my real name and just think it is Binka. Is this bad?

sorry backward I thought we were making sweeping assumptions about other people diets (and then reflecting that onto their parenting skills)

Nothing against vegetarians. But if your child is a vegetarian who WILL NOT eat fruit and veg and you're other child is having seizures due to nutrition deficiencies then I think you need to compromise.

Plus its bad when your child has to hide in a corner to eat a sweetie, especially when mum and dad munch choc and crisps in front of the dc's.

Well said, Mummy2. You are the voice of common sense around here.