As a parent to step-children I often feel my efforts to promote a vegan lifestyle gets dumped in between the sharing of two households; one of which is completely non-vegan. Despite that fact I’ve been apart of more than half their lives, it is difficult to keep up the good vegan fight with so little support. I’m always respectful though to the fact that they were not born into veganism but also happily acknowledge their still in their “forming” years so I plant those seeds, in gallons!
Meanwhile I hope and pray the light bulb will come on for them (hopefully sooner than later), someday they will be old enough to make their own choices, and just maybe…it will be vegan. On that day I can assure you that this bonus mom will shout for joy! Until then I will continue to teach them to make compassionate choices, to understand how animals suffer and live in inhumane conditions, how the production of animal products are destroying their environment (yours too!), and that the continued use of animal products in their diet will lead to chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diseases such as heart and cancer to name a few.
They do flatter me by being very supportive of the vegan work I do. They love to watch me cook at home and although I can’t say they looove everything I make, they are willing to try it and are complimentary. They’re also eager to attend any cooking classes I’m teaching and always act interested in knowing the outcome of a workshop or food demo I’ve provided. Swoon…I. Love. That. When I ask for their help, like recently at the Texas Veggie Fair, they jump right in and don’t complain. Deep down I know they respect me and my beliefs and this makes this momma proud.
Then this happens. I was cleaning up after our “sweet” dog Belle who, while I was at the gym, had knocked down the gate at the base of the stairs and made her way into the play room to chew Legos, electric cords, stuffed animals, toilet paper and apparently needed a good “cleanse”. Lets just say I’m amazed of how much damage a dog can do in an hour and half. Sigh. Anyways while in the boys rooms I was checking out their bulletin boards and noticed a piece of school work that my youngest son Bryce had pinned to his board. Then. My. Heart. Melted.
An article on animals abuse taped to a piece of notebook paper.
His report on the animal abuse article including his thoughts on why animal abuse is so wrong.
The grading on his report regarding animal abuse, 100!
Bonus mom lesson: every little word, every little action, every little effort made in support of vegan activism is not dumped between the sharing of two households or even to the rest of the world.
“I feel very bad for ALL the animals who suffer.” – Bryce Mendenhall