Minding My Peas

“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, Eating Animals

I’ve been a mom for five years and a vegetarian turned vegan for almost two.  In that time, 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.

Me (Mama Pea), Gigi, Pea Daddy and Lulu

It starts with me.

I lead by example.  If I skip meals, eat fast food and park it on the couch for Real Housewives marathons, my girls will too.  So I try to live a balanced life, embracing a plant-based diet, exercising for health and fun, and moderately feeding my appetite for trashy reality TV.  Though I was a college athlete turned runner, including a few half marathons, I suffered a major back injury in 2009, resulting in surgery and an end to my competitive running days.  Still, I manage to get moving somehow each day, even if it’s just lifting Lulu off of her sister’s bruised body because she tried to steal the last few sips of her smoothie.

Because they have been exposed to a variety of healthy foods, 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.