Ju Ju: "mommy, what is that?"
Me: "Oh, that's chicken.."
Ju Ju: "chicken?"
Me: "Yes, chicken."
Ju Ju: "chicken... the bird, chicken?"
Me: "Ahem....., yeah? chicken (Now I know what she's going to ask me next).."
Ju Ju: "it's dead?"
Me: "... Yes..."
Ju Ju: "what did the chicken say when they die?"
Me: "I don't know.. Maybe they cried?"
Ju Ju: "oh they cried? you think they were sad?"
Me: "Oh yes, I am sure they were sad.. but you know..(I don't know what to say)"
Ju Ju: "were they hurt??"
Me: "Oh! You know what you can do for Mama? Can you set the table, please?"
Ju Ju: "oh okay mommy.."
Okay my friends. Ju Ju has no problem eating chicken. She's eaten chicken many times before. But I think Saturday night was the first time she had ever associated the live bird as the chicken that we eat. Maybe because she saw raw stuff. I don't know..
I have a tough time explaining to my daughters about food chain and how it works. I am positive that she doesn't know steak (one of her favorites) is actually coming from cows. She doesn't know pork is pig. She thinks meat is meat and has nothing to do with animals. I know she will learn someday that in order for us to survive, some animals will sacrifice their lives for us. (Oh by the way, she eats fish and sashimi/sushi and she knows they are fish from the ocean..)
It's hard to explain about death and how it is okay for the animals to be killed for us to eat when we teach our kids to be kind to animals. So, Saturday night was no exception; I had to change the subject by asking her to help me set the table for dinner.
Do you have the same problem with your children? Do you know how to explain things like these? If so, can you share some tips with me? Or do you remember when you were little and asking bunch of questions to your paretns about food?
( I can't live without the electric frying pan that JT's grandma had given us when I cook anything that uses oil. I learned from JT's mother that the oven top stays clean when you use it...)
I made the Lemon Chicken with garlic Spinich on the bed of Spaghetti Rigati. The resolution of the pic above is horrible, but I must admit, it was very delish!Have a beautiful Monday, everyone!!!
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21 comments:
I'm not sure what I would have done either Maki...setting the table seemed like a good distraction until you get a hot tip on a comfortable way to help explain it better :)
Quick story...my fathers family owns land on the Big Island. While living there for a bit my father worked it out with a local farmer to have one of his cows "grow" up with us until it was time for it to come home. (If you know what I mean)...I was devastated when I learned Susie the cow was gone and that we had been given some of her meat to thank my father....(shudder)..I cried and cried. I think my father told me that was part of life.
thanks for the story.
I haven't got kids, so I'm afraid I can't help...
BUT - That spaghetti looks delicious! & perhaps you wouldn't mind sharing the recipe?
Bambola x
That dish looks great!!!
I haven't had this conversation with Love yet; she devours chicken...I guess I would have to explain the food chain process and then I am sure that will open another can of worms LOL
I don't have that particular problem. My kids know where their meat comes from. My step sister and her husband raise animals for slaughter (man, I hate that word). I think you handled it as well as you could.
Oh yummy! Not fair to post a picture of delish looking food without a recipe! :)
That looks awesome and I don't even like chicken!
I bet there has got to be some books out there that explain this to kids.
looks yummy. For the kids. they asked and we just explained it to them. Even now at dinner they wil ask ;" are we eating pigs butt" and T will say, yes and htey just say ok giggle and eat it.. i gues we made it non threatening by saying where from the animal it is, maybe not...they eat alot of meat though so i think that they really don't care whee it comes from as long as its good..
yum that looks so good!
poor juju. when my friends little sister realized the whole"eating animals thing" she refused to eat anything animal related. steak fish pork chicken anything. the only thing she didnt understand was hamburgers were cow so that was the only thing her mom could get her to eat....until her older brother decided to burst that bubble.
OHHH...that must be difficult ...but mmmmmm that looks YUMMY!
Ew that is a tough one to explain but the dinner does look delicious!
Fun story: my mom would watch Discover Medical Channel (or w/e) with open heart surgery and head trauma but she couldn't touch raw meat. I have some strange phobias as a result. I can't eat anything with a bone in it (reminds me of the animal it came from). I refuse to eat ground beef (many days of my mom gagging as she rolled hamburger meat into burgers). If it kills me (and it might) my children will eat drumsticks and hamburgers, like normal human beings.
I think you did a great job explaining to her, aka distraction! Ha. As long as you don't seem freaked out by it I doubt she'll make a fuss about it.
That meal looks yumm-y!! :)
The Rambler: Aww sweetie... I would cry too if I found out that my cute Susie the cow was gone:( BTW just hearing about the farm on the Big Island makes me realize how much I miss Hawaii...
Bambola: Oh yes, I think I'm gonna have to post the recipe..
Rachel: Yeah, Love will totally be giving you a tough time blitzing with questions. LOL
Carrin: I hate that word, too!!!
Sarah: I will post the recipe, I promise!
Cape Cod Gal: I have been thinking about getting some books, too...
Penz: Being honest is the best way to deal with stuff like this. I'm sure they'll understand the whole process when they grow older..
Nicole: I think that's how people become vegetalian... My friend back in Hawaii, he used to love steaks and all kind of meat, but ever since he saw slaughter house special on TV cocumentary, he refuses to eat meat. He does eat seafood though... Poor girl..
Maegan: I just don't know what to say to questions like that sometimes...
bayjb: Thank you - it was good!
kaitlyn: Yeah, I remember about your phobia on your blog. That is some tough stuff to deal with. I think it has to do a lot with how you're raised and what you grew up eating..
Yum - your dish looks great.
I don't have kids so I don't know if this is the correct answer but maybe do the whole school food chain thing starting out with veggies and small animals and working the way up to humans? Maybe it will put some distance between the piece of meat on the plate you want her to eat and the cute little chicken.
What a terrific blog you have! I've read several posts and enjoyed them all :-)
Nice to meet you.
Maven from A Fabulously Good Life
I just do my best to always be honest with my kids when they ask...
My kids do talk openly about where the food we eat comes from. They have surprised me by seeming to understand the complexitites of the situation, even our 7 year old...
MMMMM. Now i am craving lemon chicken at 830 in the morning!!
Your chicken looks yummy! As far as telling the kids that their food comes from animals... yikes. My daughter still decides she is a vegetarian from time to time because she loves animals so much and we are at least 5 years from that first conversation about it. I guess like Rambler, I was told it was part of life and I grew up on a farm. I tried to explain the same thing to my kids, but some are more sensitive than others. I hope it goes well for you :)
p.s. my son just accepted it with no problems, so I attribute the problems to my DD's sensitive nature... oh, and I stopped by from SITS, congrats on being featured!
Greetings! Visiting from SITS. I remember when my daughter was 5, she asked what kind of animal waffles came from? She's always been a little weary about meat and probably would be a happy vegetarian. Sorry I don't have any advice about breaking the dead animal news to young ones. All the best and congrats!
i don't know what i would have done either. i am so bad at answering questions like that...especially caught off guard!! i probably would have diverted her attention too!!
congrats on being saucy!
oops...posted under my old blog...which is no long around...
new one...just in case you want to pop in and say hello...
http://www.rockanddrool.com
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