“Children confront us with our paradoxes and dishonesty, and we are exposed. You need to find an answer for every why — Why do we do this? Why don’t we do that? — and often there isn’t a good one. So you say, simply, because. Or you tell a story that you know isn’t true. And whether or not your face reddens, you blush. The shame of parenthood — which is a good shame — is that we want our children to be more whole than we are, to have satisfactory answers. My children not only inspired me to reconsider what kind of eating animal I would be, but also shamed me into reconsideration.” -Jonathan Safran Foer, “Against Meat”

I’ve been a mom for four years and a vegetarian turned vegan for almost a year.  In that year, I’ve also managed to successfully transition my husband and two daughters to a vegetarian diet.  I’ve become a more conscious eater, a more conscious citizen of Earth and most importantly, a more conscious parent.

Daddy Pea, LuLu, Me (Mama Pea) & Gigi

It starts with me.

I love my green vegetables and my treadmill.  Though I was a college athlete turned runner, after several races last year, including two half marathons, I suffered a major back injury, resulting in surgery and an end to my competitive running days.  Still, I manage to get some form of exercise each day, be it a short run, the elliptical, weights, Pilates, or lifting LuLu off of her sister’s bruised body because she tried to steal the last few sips of her smoothie.

I lead by example at the dinner table too.  Juices, fruits, salads, nuts, seeds, legumes and vegetables all show up on my plate more frequently than David Letterman at an intern pajama party.  The girls have learned to love oatmeal, fruit smoothies, banana soft serve, spinach, broccoli, soy yogurt, almond butter and even tempeh.

I’m not the perfect mom by any means.  There are days when the closest thing I get to a shower is a baby wipe and a fresh coat of deodorant, and when dinner is a box of Chik’n Nuggets.  But at least I know that those nuggets didn’t have a mother, and I always serve them with a side of peas.