Reflections on Raising a Vegan Child, 8 years Later…

Ronan is now an independent 8 year old who has eaten vegan food since birth. I am now a very busy high school teacher and my son goes to a traditional public school. It was for sure easier to be a vegan family when I worked part-time and before Ronan was in school. However, we are not just surviving but thriving with our vegan lifestyles.

There are for sure challenges. For example, Ronan is the only vegan (possibly the only vegetarian) child in his school. He does not have any veggie peers to support him and he often misses out of eating with other kids at important social events like birthday parties or school events. His school provides free breakfast and lunch to all of the students, but there is not a vegan option. So we pack his breakfast and lunch every day. It would for sure be easier if he just ate with the other kids, but we try to make healthy/fun lunches.

Physically, Ronan seems to be doing fine on a vegan diet. However, I take nutrition very seriously and do my best to learn about what nutrients are of special concern for vegan children.  While I am not a dietician, from my experience, the nutrients to be extra careful about are B12, Omega 3s, zinc, iron, and calcium. One other area to be careful about is that the kids get enough calories as vegan food tends to be high in fiber. That means kids will fill up more quickly and possibly need more calories. Smoothies are great for helping with this.

However, the positives that I see in Ronan are more subtle. For one thing, I think growing up vegan has given him way more empathy than he would have had otherwise. He is ultra logical and I think that considering how animals feel has given him much more understanding of how others feel. He is ultra gentle and very kind. I think that living a vegan life has helped him to be a kinder person. Additionally, I think that being vegan in a non-vegan world has taught Ronan to make his own best choices, but not to judge others. While the vast majority of his friends do eat animals, they are still his friends who he loves hanging out with. I think that is something that we all can learn from. We can have different viewpoints and still be great friends.

Another subtle positive is the outcome on the Earth that Ronan has had in his 8 years on the Earth.  At 8 years old, Ronan has saved more animals than most people do in their lives because he has never eaten one. His footprint on the environment is far lighter and that will have a direct effect on the health of the planet for his generation and their kids.

My thoughts for other parents on whether they should raise their kids vegan is that it depends on the parents and the child. We have always given Ronan a choice in whether he stays vegan and so far it has been the right choice for him. However, there may be a time when he decides that he wants to eat the non-vegan Halloween candy or the school cupcakes and that is okay too. All of us have to struggle through our own ethical decisions as we go through our life. Our role as parents is to share our values and reasons for our ethics, but ultimately guide them through the struggle of making their own ethical choices. It is also okay to eat vegan at home and vegetarian for social occasions. Whatever seems to work best for your family is okay. If you are eating 90% vegan, you are still doing a world of good. Even if you just eat meatless Mondays, it is still a huge difference for your health, the animals’ health, and the health of the planet.

 

 

Veggie Kids Surviving and Thriving at School Series: First Post, School Breakfasts

I thought I would end the school year with a series of posts that reflect on some challenges that vegan kids face in school and how to overcome them. Hopefully, these tips will help some of you who have kids in school or who are starting school in the near future. My son is close to ending his first grade year and I have learned a few tricks about sending veggie/vegan kids to school along the way.

My son attends what is called a Title 1 School which means the majority of kids qualify for free or reduced lunches. This is relevant to vegan/veggie kids because all of the kids are given free breakfast and lunch. So every morning, all the kids have free breakfast and milk in the classroom as part of the school day and pretty much none of it is vegan. I do think that if I were to talk with the staff, it might be possible to get him soymilk. I have not done this as of yet, but I will try it and write about how that turns out in the next few weeks. How we have handled this is to feed him at home and then send him with a snack to eat with the rest of the kids. Keeping in mind that we are busy working parents, here are some of the snacks that are easy and that are kid approved:

1. A half bagel plus spread (e.g. non-dairy cream cheese like the Daiya strawberry cream cheese; nut butter and jam; non-dairy butter (e.g. Earth Balance) and jam);

2. A muffin (for homemade, see blueberry muffin recipe below);

3. A granola bar or fig bar;

4. Sliced apples dipped in orange juice before packing so they don’t turn brown;

5. Some sort of homemade trail mix with whatever combination of the following that I have: seeds, nuts, dried fruit, cheerios, chocolate chips, animal crackers;

6. non-dairy yogurt or apple sauce;

7. A small box of non-dairy milk or juice;

In honor of berry season, here is a blueberry muffin recipe. If berries are not in season, frozen berries will work as well. These work great as a delicious school breakfast as well as a semi-healthy afterschool treat.

Ingredients: 

2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar (150 g)

1 cup (235 ml) nondairy milk

1/3 cup (78 ml) vegetable oil like canola

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar

1 1/2 cup (218 g) fresh or frozen blueberries

Optional Topping: Few tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of nutmeg, and a teaspoon of cinnamon mixed together

Procedure: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin tins or add paper liner;

2. In a medium or large bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt); Mix well;

3. In a large bowl, add: sugar, non-dairy milk, oil, vanilla, and vinegar). Mix well.

4. Add the dry ingredients bowl (the flour mixture in step 2) to the wet ingredients bowl (the ingredients from step 3) and mix until the ingredients are just blended. Try not to overmix. Fold in the berries.

5. Fill the muffin tins about two-thirds full. Bake about 10 minutes (muffins should be lightly browned and a knife inserted in middle should come out clean). If using optional topping, sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon/nutmeg mixture on the top before baking.

6. Remove the oven and let sit for 5 minutes

Vegan Valentines Day

What do vegans eat on Valentines? Are we feasting on kale? Well maybe, but some of us are also eating plenty of chocolate too:) Good dark chocolate is vegan by default. Some dark chocolate does contain milk, but higher quality dark chocolate will not. There are lots of nice dark chocolate bars out there with everything from sea salt to chiles and cherries inside. You can even order heart shaped boxes of vegan chocolates online. This year, my favorite were these dark chocolate covered cherries from Trader Joes.

Class Valentines Day Party

There are lots of great recipes out there for fun vegan treats to bring to a class party. Some easy ideas are chocolate covered strawberries or vegan cupcakes. However, my son’s first grade teacher asked if we could bring something healthy as the kids would get so much candy with their Valentines. This was a little harder for me to think of what would be good to bring to share with a class full of non-vegan kids that is not a dessert. I looked through Pinterest and still was not sure what to bring, I asked for help from friends and received so many great suggestions. A kindergarten teacher suggested fruit and I figured she probably knew exactly what was best for the party and decided to listen to her. Since someone was already bringing strawberries, we brought red and green grapes. Another friend suggested using those little orange cuties as there are lots of “cute” Valentines ideas on Pinterest. We also made popcorn and chocolate chip cookies. Someone was already bringing strawberries, but I think one of the nicest suggestions was for chocolate covered strawberries. Some other great suggestions include: 1. hummus and baked blue corn chips plus dried mangos; 2. homemade granola; 3. rice or corn cakes (or chocolate covered rice cakes); 4. kale chips. My brave stepdaughter also suggested chil mangos which my son would love to see all his friends try one, but I did not want any kids to cry!

My son did not give any candy with  his Valentines this year, but there are lots of easy vegan options. You can always give away a non-vegan item like mini-bubbles from the party favor section of stores like Target or give something healthy like the cute orange cutie ideas on Pinterest. The traditional conversation hearts are not vegan as they include gelatin. The chewy sweet-tart hearts also contain gelatin. The hard SweetTarts Hearts do not have any non-vegan items in the ingredients, but they do have a note saying they might contain eggs. They are listed as vegan on Peta’s 14 Vegan Valentine’s Day Candy page so I think they are probably just made in a factory that uses eggs.

Valentines Day Baking 

 When I made the chocolate chip cookie dough, I doubled the recipe so there would be a little left over for us to make cookies at home. My husband had the brilliant idea of saving the dough till we were watching a movie at night and eating them fresh out of the oven with vanilla non-dairy ice cream from Trader Joes. They were so delicious and it is a nice romantic vegan dessert:)

We also made cupcakes! My son has recently started loving baking. I think this is because he loves eating desserts so much and thinks it is cool that he can add what he likes if he cooks. So for home and to share with my mom, we made the strawberry cupcakes with buttercream frosting from The Joy of Vegan Baking cookbook. We tinted the frosting pink and red using cake decorating coloring from Michaels. We added red sprinkles and placed SweetTart hearts on top.

Cool Off With a Vegan Ice Cream Party!

Summer is almost here and that means it is time to start thinking about….vegan ice cream! You can use any ice cream maker to make vegan ice cream. We found a vintage ice cream maker at a second-hand shop that works really well and will probably last forever. 

A great kid’s summer party or theme for a vegan playgroup would be a vegan ice cream party! The GirlieGirlArmy Blog posted this week about everything you need to host your own ice cream party.

 

 

 

Some Tricks for Making Halloween a Treat for Vegan Kids

Halloween has been the most challenging holiday for our vegan family.  While quite a bit of Halloween fun is fine for vegan kids (costumes, pumpkins, pumpkin patches, spooky decorations), the main event of trick or treating can be challenging. The following are some suggestions:

Sending your child out to ask for candy from the neighbors is challenging as many of your well-meaning neighbors will be handing out non-vegan treats. We do not want our little one to miss out on the fun of trick or treating and have tried our best to still make the night fun. Here are a few options:

1. Trick Or Treat Only to People You Know

This is sort of like a vegan candy crawl where you end up driving from neighborhood to neighborhood, only trick or treating to people you know. This works with friends who are not vegan if they are kind enough to put something vegan aside for your little one(s). This worked the best for us when our son was small and was happy with a few pieces of candy.  We only trick or treated to people that we knew were giving out vegan treats. It was fun and festive as we visited with friends along the way. 

2. Research Events in your Community

Many communities are offering safe Halloween events for trick or treaters. While some of these will offer traditional candy, some might have more non-food items. You can call these events ahead of time and find out what they are giving out for treats. You might ask them if they have anything special for kids with allergies as some might have dairy-free alternatives. For example, two events in our community were mostly vegan-friendly.

The first was a Pumpkin Walk where kids trick or treated at stations along a decorated pathway of carved pumpkins. This event had mostly non-edible treats (like pencils or vampire teeth) with only a few stations with candy.

Another event was a trick or treat event at the Discovery Museum, a local children’s museum, where they gave out such wonderful treats as used books from a local bookstore, vials of colorful rocks, and small toys.

3. Trick Or Treat and Think of Things To Do With the Non-Vegan Candy

When our son turned 4, he really wanted to go door to door to trick or treat. So last year, we did venture out to our neighbors. I thought of going door to door and planting vegan candy with my neighbors, but decided that we were just going to have to face this one. He trick or treated at our house first, where I made sure he had quite a few vegan treats to full his basket. When we looked through the candy afterwards, quite a bit of the candy was vegan. His solution for the non-vegan candy was to make a picture with it. We always give our son the option that he can choose to eat non-vegan candy on Halloween if he wants to. That way he does not feel deprived and the choice comes from him. We try to make sure that if he makes the choice not to eat the vegan candy, that there are plenty of other vegan treats for him. Another good tip from a vegan friend who is a mom, is that her son trades his candy in to her, and they go to Whole Foods and pick out vegan candy.

 

 

In the future, there might be apps that help us to find the houses with vegan treats:) It looks like the people from Vegan Street are working on some Humane Halloween Resources.

Vegan Parenting Article in Reno News and Review

Our family is featured in this week’s Reno News and Review in an article about vegan parenting! 

Flying With Vegan Babies and Toddlers

Since summer is in full swing, I thought it might be helpful to write a post about flying with vegan babies and toddlers. I have quite a bit of experience with this as I spent the first two years of my Ronán’s life based in southwest Ireland, but finishing my Masters degree in Los Angeles. Due to immigration challenges, my husband Brendan could not enter the US yet, so it was the only way our family could live together while I finished my degree. I was still breastfeeding at the time, so Ronán and I did the long flights together.

Here is our family crest on a surfboard that Brendan made:

Here are pictures of Ronán as a baby on both of our southwest coasts, the southwest of Ireland and southwest of California:

The following is a collection of tips that I learned along the way (often the hard way). These should work with all babies and toddlers, but I have added in a few things that are specifically for vegan babies and toddlers. Please feel free to share your travel experiences and add more tips in the comment section.

1. Before You Travel, Buying a Ticket

One thing that will make a big difference in your flight is if you request the bulkhead seating. These seats are directly behind a wall which means there is a little space on the ground in front of your seats. This area works well with small children as they can toddle around a bit and play on the ground directly in front of you as long as the seatbelt sign is off. On international flights, some airplanes allow you to request bassinets that hang from the wall in front of you where babies can sleep. I have had mixed results with these as you have to bring the baby out every time the seatbelt sign goes on. However, they may allow you a little bit of time with free arms.

Generally, you have to book your flight and then call the reservations line to request the bulkhead. Make sure to tell them you have a baby or toddler. Some airlines require you to wait to request the bulkhead till you are checking in, but it is worth calling ahead to find out.

One money-saving tip for bringing lap children (under 2) on international flights is to be careful with different amounts of taxes at different airports. This matters for lap children because although they are technically free, you have to pay the taxes for them on international flights. London Heathrow has one of the highest amounts of taxes and you could pay as much as $700 in taxes if you have a stop in Heathrow. In contrast, if your stop is in Dublin, you may only pay $40 in taxes.

2. Before You Travel, Requesting a Meal

If you are traveling internationally, you can still request a meal for the international portion of your flight. Most airlines have a vegetarian and vegan option that you can request ahead of time. Make sure to request it while booking your flight and call to verify that they have it listed. I have experienced a few times where my meal did not make it on the plane or they have no record of my meal request, so make sure you always have back-up food with you.

If you book a seat for your child, you can request a meal for them as well. There are no special children’s meals so they will have an adult meal also. If they are traveling on your lap, they will not receive a meal so make sure to bring enough food for them if they are eating solid food.

3. Surviving the Airport, What You Can Bring On the Plane

Liquids and Gels:

It is always good to check what the updated security requirements allow regarding gels and liquids. When I last traveled, juices, non-dairy milk, and water was allowed for small children. I was also allowed to bring baby food on board. Different airports screen these in different ways. Some airports open one jar and test it or ask you to taste it. It is good to bring one extra juice or baby food item for this purpose.

Baby Items:

Most airlines allow you to bring baby items such as car-seats, baby-carriers, and umbrella strollers for free on board the plane. However, please check with your airline ahead of time to see what they allow and any size restrictions. They usually allow bigger strollers, but you have to check them in either at the gate or with your bags.

Streamlining:

If there are two of you traveling, you will be fine. If you are traveling on your own, you want to streamline so that you can push your stroller and carry your bags. If your baby is able to sleep in a carrier, you might want to check your stroller. I always kept my stroller to check at the gate as I liked having the stroller for my baby to sleep in. The carry-on bag that worked the best for me was a large backpack that I could wear while pushing my stroller. I used the Patagonia MLC Wheelie.  I hung my diaper bag from the stroller handles.

4. Surviving the Airport, The Airport Security Line

There is often a security line just for families traveling with small children. If you can find this line, you will spare yourself the frustrated looks while you launch all of your baby items through security.  Since I had to navigate these lines by myself while holding my child, I always packed my carry-on items with the security check in mind. I kept everything that I knew needed extra security (my liquids including toiletries, pureed baby foods and juices, and electronics at the bottom of my stroller). I put my carry-on bag and diaper bag through first, then the tray full of liquids, the tray full of electronics (my phone and laptop), then with my baby in one hand I folded up my umbrella stroller and put it through. If you cannot fold your stroller one handed, you can ask for help folding your stroller from security while you hold your child. They are not allowed to hold your child.

5. Surviving the Airport

Tiring Out Your Child

While you are waiting for your plane or at a connecting airport, try to tire out your child as much as possible. This is the time to let them walk, look at planes, and move around as much as possible before they are confined on the plane. You might want to check if any airport terminal you are going through has a play area. For example, Chicago O’Hare has a large play area with a pretend airplane that children can pretend to fly. Some airports have museum areas with things for children to explore.

Eating at the Airport

For vegan options at the airport, research food choices for your terminal ahead of time. Remember that at most airports, it is very difficult to cross terminals as you have to go through security again. Make sure to bring back-up food choices in case you cannot find anything at the airport. LAX will soon have a vegan restaurant, Real Food Daily in Terminal 4.

6. Onboard the Plane

Feeding

Breastfeeding is perfect for planes as you do not need to bring anything with you to feed. It also helps babies’ ears if you feed them on the take off and landing. They often fall asleep after breastfeeding which leaves you with a peaceful flight. For older children and bottle-fed babies, it also helps their ears if they drink liquids on take-off and landing. If you are more modest, a small blanket helps for privacy.

Snacks

Small snacks do wonders on a flight as you can bring out the snacks when they are confined in their seats or your lap when the seatbelt sign is on.  Make sure to have enough food to last them for your flight and a little extra in case it is delayed on the runway.

Toys and Books

Always good to bring some of their favorite books and toys and maybe a few small surprises to bring out at desperate moments on the plane. I always found that if my son was melting down from boredom, a new toy unwrapped on the plane, usually cheered him right up.

Diapers and Extra Clothes

There are changing tables in the airport bathroom, but I will warn you that they are tiny.  Make sure you have more diapers and wipes than you think you will need. Bring several changes of clothing for your child and possibly a change of clothing for you. My son notoriously spilled food all over himself or had diaper blowouts at the worst moments when I traveled with him. Usually, he also spilled something on my shirt too so an extra shirt helped for me.

Other Passengers

Most passengers are sweet and are very considerate of parents traveling with small children. There are a few that will be very annoyed with your crying baby. I had one man tell me that I better stop my 9 month old son from kicking his fully reclined chair. I was wondering exactly how he expected me to do this….I told the flight attendant about the problem and they politely found another seat for the man, than whispered to me about how awful he is.

When it all goes wrong remember that the plane will eventually land and traveling is probably the best gift you can give your children!

Keeping Birthday Parties Fun for Vegan Kids

Earlier this week, my son Ronán attended a birthday party for at an indoor play area with lots of bounce houses. It was the first party he has attended in a long time since we moved to Reno last year, so he was very excited.  I had forgotten that there are usually lots of non-vegan treats at birthday parties until the night before when I realized that there would probably cake and pizza made with milk and eggs. I pictured my son watching everyone else eat pizza and cake and realized that I needed to figure something out. I found information on the internet about hosting vegan kids birthday parties, but not much information on attending a party as a guest.  So, I asked a vegan mom friend from Veg Mamas for her advice and posted a question on the local vegan forum. They all had great suggestions which I will share with all of you.

1. Talk with your child before the party if they are old enough (about 4 and above)

I asked my son if he wanted to make an exception for birthday parties where he just eats vegetarian and eats pizza and cake with everyone else or if he wanted to bring a special vegan treat just for him. I felt that asking him is important as it always has to be his choice or he might grow up feeling resentful that he cannot eat the same things as other kids. We have always been honest with him in a kid-friendly way about why we our family chooses to be vegan. However, I am very glad that he said he wanted to bring his own vegan treat. If you go this route, you have to be prepared that they might want to eat the same things as the other kids.

2. Send a special lunch, slice of pizza, or item for your child to share with everyone

If the party is at a house or a park, you could offer to send a dish along to share. If the party is at a location like a jumping place, you could pack a lunch for your child with their favorite treats. If they are having pizza for the party, you could make pizza the night before with vegan cheese and pack slices for your child to eat pizza with everyone else. If you do not have time to make pizza and there is a pizzeria or Whole Foods close by, you could order pizza the night before and bring leftover slices to the party. The book Vegan Lunch Box has lots of festive ideas for special kid-friendly lunches that are sure to keep kids from feeling deprived.

3. Bring along your child’s favorite treat for them to have during cake time

You could send along your child’s favorite treat with them to the party. I made Ronán cupcakes the night before and we decorated his cupcake with the colored frosting he chose (red) and chocolate chips made into a scary face. A few suggestions that vegan parents gave me is to keep a few frozen treats (e.g. cupcakes without frosting or a brownie) in the freezer in case you ever need to defrost one the night before an event. That way you do not have to bake a dozen cupcakes the night before a birthday or school party. You could also buy a cupcake from a vegan bakery, a bakery with vegan options, or Whole Foods. Another great suggestion from a vegan mom is to bring a pack of Justin’s peanut butter chocolate cups if you do not have time to bake.

4. Let the host or hostess know that your child is vegan and that you are bringing a few items to the party

You may want to check in with a host or hostess of the party and let them know you are bringing a few things for your child to eat. We arrived at our party only to find out that the birthday girl’s mother was very thoughtful and that the birthday girl was allergic to dairy. She ordered one pizza with only non-dairy cheese. She remembered that Ronan was vegan and even brought him a special vegan cupcake from the cupcake shop. If I had checked in with her ahead of time, it would have saved me baking a dozen cupcakes.

This party was a success and we are ready for the next one!