Lisa and I managed to upset our families over the holidays. Now – that’s not a hard thing for a vegan to do at Christmas, but surprisingly this had nothing to do with food. The upset was caused when we said that we wouldn’t be pretending to our new daughter Awen (pictured above) that Father Christmas was real.
Our families have been quietly accepting of us raising Awen vegan, but NOT PRETENDING SANTA IS REAL?! That’s the last strawberry! We’re ruining the ‘magic’ of Christmas for our daughter! What about all the other children whose Christmases she’ll ruin by telling them the truth?!
Ah – there we have it. The only reason I spent more than 30 years of my life eating meat was because the truth of how that food got to my plate was kept from me as a child. When I turned vegan at 40, my biggest emotion was anger. Anger that I’d been lied to all my life. Anger that I’d already raised two children as meat-eaters because I’d passed that lie on.
So with Awen, Lisa and I are going to be as transparent and honest as possible with her about, well, everything. About food and nutrition, about our finances and how we make a living, and about Father Christmas being a fairy tale that got way out of hand!
After all, if you can convince a child that a magic man in a red suit will leave them presents if they are good while they sleep, getting them to believe that cows enjoy giving us milk is a breeze.
David 💚🌱
David’s thoughts from the week, published every weekend for members only.
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