‘I cook vegetarian food every day, after which my ex serves the kids frikandels’
It can cause quite a gap, such a new way of life, especially when your children don’t want to eat a bite of vegetarian food or your ex-partner has a completely different vision.
Malou (34), mother of Jamie (9), Morris (7) and Nick (6):
“At first I found it touching that my boyfriend was so committed to our new vegetarian lifestyle that he decided to go vegan right away. Very good, I praised him, although in practice it was of course impossible with two children who wanted cheese toasties, omelette and chocolate milk
Get used to
‘Lucky squat’, my friend judged, they had to get used to that. So he has been filling the fridge unperturbed with expensive oat milk, vegan cheese spreads and other very responsible products ever since. Our boys turn their noses up at it and refuse to take a bite when it cooks, my gut spontaneously shoots into overproduction of so much vegetable.
“Our boys turn their noses at it and refuse to eat a bite when it cooks”
As a compromise, we now eat vegetarian half of the week and vegan the other half. They should know for themselves what else the children eat with their friends. That status quo not only saves my relationship, but the entire family life – if only because of the grocery budget.”
Also read – Keep every child (and parent) sweet with these vegan American cookies in 3 variants >
Frikandel
Annabel (36), mother of Luna (9) and Philip (6):
“We knew one thing for sure when my ex and I got a divorce: we would always be on the same page about parenting. And if not, we pretended; everything for clarity and stability for our children. But that was before I decided I wanted to go vegetarian with the kids and my ex decided he thought that was bad for their health.
So I cook responsibly every day, after which he serves them frikandels, frankfurters and chicken wings on his weekends. But come on, basically they get healthy food, I know. This is simply a consequence of divorce. Although I think my ex is a huge, well, frikandel.”
This article appears in Kek Mama 10-2022.
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