to think that if you tell someone that your child is vegetarian...

[Tollund]

that they should respect this and not then try to feed them meat?!

At a birthday party with DS1 who is four and a parent there offered my DS a sausage. DS took one (as he didn't know is it was veggie or not) and I politely said to the man "thank you, but he's vegetarian."

He said "yes, I know, they told me that. But I thought I'd see if he wanted one, and he took one, so let him have it."

I ignored him and told DS not to eat it.

THe man then started on at me about how I should let him make his own choices and to let him eat it which I refused to be drawn into, politely telling him no and then walking away.

He then went up to the mother of the child whose party it was (about 10 feet away from me) and starts banging on about me not letting him eat meat!

I think this man was monumentally ignorant - why does he think he is in a position to make food choices for my four year old child? What if DS was Jewish? Or had allergies? I'm now loathe to let my DS anywhere near this man's child or to go to parties where this man might be - IABU? (I don't think I'm BU in terms of making dietary decisions for my son at this time in his life, but whether am BU in wanting to keep my DS very far away from that tool!)

rockin, just because we CAN do something, doesn't mean that we SHOULD.

it doesn't mean we Shouldn't either - like I said PERSONAL CHOICE - something I personally choose to respect

good post rockin

My bf is a vegan but her kid is meat eating.
I grew up with with a mum who was a veggie for religious purposes. She gave me meat but not fish (as she didn't know how to cook it- not that great at cooking with meat tbh).

Most of my family veggie for religious purposes.
My ds eats anthing I can get in his mouth - fussy eater.
Most mums I meet with same veggie for religious purposes still don't eat any meat themselves but get their kids to eat beef at macdonalds parties as they want their kids to mix with other kids who might eat it (ie have mates).

complicated issue. I personally feel sick when I see ds eating calamari given to him dh - but hey - so fucking what. Just because I won't touch or look at it doesn't mean my ds shouldn't explore.

However, what's difficult is that your the parent and if another person then goes and gives your kid something that's not on your dietary list then that's really odd.

YANBU.
None of the man's business and not his place to interfere.

Because the alternative is being a vegan,NoHunIntended, and I like dairy products.(and I don't like soya milk)

I should say that I accept that farm animals are there for food and I eat meat, have leather shoes, use glue, eat eggs and eat all dairy products etc. I only mentioned it because I think that some vegetarians, who think it cruel to kill animals for food, have no idea on milk production. If I was to give it up for animal welfare reasons, which I am not, I would give up milk before meat as I think it far more distressing forthe animal.

Ah rockin, see, I choose to respect the right to a happy and healthy life for the animals.

exotic, there are other dairy alternatives than just soya! You are right that some (I'd say most) vegetarians have no clue about the cruelty and suffering involved in the dairy industry. I think ignorance is one thing, but knowing and not caring, I don't really get that. :(

Egg production's horrific too. Not only the battery conditions in which a huge number of birds are kept, but the poor male chicks who are crushed alive, as they're surplus to requirements. :(

I think that ignorance is no excuse-people ought to know about milk production. I stayed on a dairy farm a lot as a DC so I wouldn't say it was cruel -just more distressing to cow to be separated from the calf than a quick, clean death.

Thanks headless :)

& so do we NoHun