How to Raise a Vegan Child

Raising a vegan child is difficult. With the peer pressure and the convenience of stopping off at the neighborhood burger joint a constant temptation to overworked and stressed out parents, raising a vegan child can take a lot of your dietary resolve. However, a few creative steps might make that lifestyle a bit more manageable, and who knows, even fun.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Explain to your child why it is important they eat healthy food and that it doesn't matter if their friends don't do the same. Let them know you're the boss in determining what they can and can't eat.
2. Make an effort to make meal times an enjoyable experience for the child. Dressing up veggies with raisin eyes or carrot lips can make something that could become an ordeal into something entertaining.
3. Discuss your decision to raise a vegan child with your friends and parents so that the child receives a consistent message from those who might occasionally babysit. Without a solid adult front, children can begin to rebel against something that doesn't make sense to them.
4. Be creative in the way you prepare certain vegan foods. You might not allow your child to eat a hamburger, but a delicious black bean burger and be fried in the pan and served up to nearly universal acclaim.
5. Encourage other people in your immediate community of friends to consider raise a vegan child in their own household. Community support helps smooth out what might be a rough child rearing road.
6. Remember that your child is going to be stubborn about a vegan diet at times and that you need to keep cool. In time they will come to appreciate the healthy diet you have planned as you raise them and even look forward to the creative dishes you come up with.