Daughter age 6 wants to be vegetarian...think I may be BU?

[SnakePlisskensMum]

This is my first AIBU, I'm a long time lurker but I genuinely need help with this one please.
As a family we eat meat approx. four times a week and always enjoy a roast dinner together on a Sunday. I have always been totally open with the kids about what they are eating, where it comes from etc. We shop at the local farm shop whenever we can so they have seen the animals wandering about and understand that they are what ends up on their plate.

My DD (6) is a complete animal fanatic and as such has said that she doesn't want meat anymore. I can sympathise with her as I have half-heartedly considered vegetarianism on occasion. I cook for all four of us and do not want to make special meals for a 6 year old. I've told her that she will have to eat the same as us until she is old enough to have an opinion. Obviously this would be different if she had any allergies or intolerances but she hasn't.

My husband comes home late in the week so often I make two meals and do not want another complication thrown into the mix. However, I'm not sure if I'm being fair to her to make her eat something she has clearly said she doesn't want because of her beliefs (albeit a 6 year olds) which may/will probably change at the drop of a hat. If she was a teen it would be a different proposition and I would assume it was more considered, IYSWIM?
Please tell me, AIBU? I'm quite prepared to accept I am.

Ah! I hear you.... and come to think of it, my soups are v complicated, too; well, lots of chopping - but I make them during nap time and then seem to forget that that actually took me 1.5 hours to do!

Mac 'n cheese w/ spinach - ymmmm - 15 minutes, though, then 15 minutes to bake....

But my piece de resistance (when DC were smaller) was cooking and breastfeeding at the same time! Ta da! (Probably not recommended by NSPCC, though....)

OP, I can understand your dilema. If my dd had said this at 6 then I am pretty sure I would have gone along with it but my DP would have found it ridiculous! I was veggie for many years (more because I lived with a veggie than through a principled decision) and so don't find it difficult to cook for vegetarians. There are so many alternatives now.

To add, I am not a speed cook like you, but I am reasonably quick

That dinner prep took 40-45 minutes, and if I include the cleaning, tidying, close to an hour. On the other hand, I made DH's dinner in under 15 minutes, and managed to catch-up on MN in-between

Mac and cheese with spinach, what a delicious thought!

x-post. The mac n cheese with spinach sounds yum!

Oh, it is! But DC1 getting craftier now, and picking out 'the green bits'.....

So quite a few on this thread who are vegetarians think the op should let her daughter become vegatarian and she should cater for that but if your children wanted to eat meat they wouldn't be aloud to do it in the house?

If she wants to become vegetarian make her some dishes and see if she will eat them, mine wouldn't eat alot if what has been suggested on here and they wouldn't be getting quarn sausage or burgers as we don't eat them ( well sometimes toad in the hole) she might just think it's a case of leaving the meat off her dinner so needs to realise what sort of things she will need to eat instead

I am glad that you want to listen to her wishes, because at 6, she has very few chances to express her desires and have them listened too and followed through.

I am another one who thinks that I would batch cook on nights the whole family eat veggie.

I also agree RaspberryLemonPavlova that
a) She has to be willing to try different types of protein eg lentils, pulses etc.
b) If you ever knew she had voluntarily eaten any meat anywhere outside the home the whole deal will be off. AND I WOULD TELL HER THAT THESE POINTS ARE DEAL BREAKERS.

She will be fine, and so will you. Your husband and son might just suprise you by ending up liking veggie cooking (for your sake I hope so)

I would also invest in a really good veggie cook book. (maybe one that have recipes for traditional style food)

Passionfruitmartini

Being vegetarian is hardly an extreme choice.

Do you think that Halal meat is meant to be less stressful and more humane to the animals? I havent heard that view expressed before, can you explain that?

What thegirlwithnoname said.

I'd only add that I think your daughter could cook for herself too, albeit, occasionally and under your supervision, if you think she's able. There are childrens vegetarian cookbooks available now, which is an improvement from my veggie childhood. Some of the "I Can Cook" recipes are ok too. My ds loves that programme and has learnt a few simple techniques from copying in mimes.

Well the main thing is, when you're passing Greggs and everyone else has a sausage roll, will she eat a cheese & onion pasty?

would she to agree to not eating meat but having fish instead?

I am at posters here who suggest you hoodwink your DD in to situations where she has no choice but to eat meat.
I applaud your little girl for her thoughtfulness.
At about the same age, I realised that the thing on my plate had once been skipping around a field. I felt physically sick at the prospect of eating meat but was often forced to. This was the 60's/70's and my mum didn't really know about any other choices.
I stopped eating meat the day I left home and have been veggie since - 30 years ago.
Both my children have been brought up veggie and are still. DD (19) sometimes eats fish but DS (14) is strict veggie.
If you get the whole family to to eat veggie more often you will save money, contribute to their better health and help to minimise the impact of animal farming on the environment.
?If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.? (Paul McCartney)

iron's in eggs and cheese and beans and lentils too.

I was brought up veggie in a very carnivorous household and managed fine. I just ate the veggies that were going (I still love a good Sunday lunch) and supplemented it with omelette, cheese, any type of protein (and quorn sausages are yum) going. I loved cauliflower cheese with roast veg, pasta in all forms and when I was older, would make my own pasties, quiche, etc to freeze so that I could have it alongside the rest of the family while they ate their carcass. There are plenty of meals you can all enjoy - like home-made pizza. I made the bases and let everyone out their own toppings on to taste/diet. Extra mushrooms and chilli peppers for me!

yy, wah - I think it's only in the past year or so that my dad has stopped "joking" about me going back to eating meat.

My dad never did. He was always saying 'that's would be nice if it had a nice pork chop on it'. And I have been veggie for 25 years now!

ah, i think it's because my dad was told in no uncertain terms that if he continued that I would never speak to him again.