On Being Pesce-pollotarian

I knew it would come up sooner or later, but finally Maggie and I had "the talk." Not that one! The other one, about our family's semi-vegetarian ways. I don't know the exact number of years I've eaten a semi-vegetarian diet, but it's around 17. Zac decided (for different reasons, which is why he occasionally will eat beef or pork, like when a pepperoni pizza is shoved in his face) that he was going red meat free about 9 or so years ago. When we had Maggie we decided mutually that she would also only eat poultry and fish until she, and we, felt she was ready to make an informed decision to do otherwise.
It was lunch time the other day and we were eating a leftover chicken dish. Maggie asked me if we were eating chicken's bodies (children are obviously very, very literal). I said "yes," because I do believe in honest answers to honest questions. I then added that we also eat fish bodies. She then told me that some people eat horse and dog bodies...she thinks. This is when I knew we needed to discuss the meat we eat. I explained that although people have eaten horse and dog, it doesn't really happen very often. That's when I shared that many people do eat cows and pigs, and other animals like deer (four legged kind) but our family chooses not to. There was a look of astonishment for a moment, most likely due to her love of cows. And please, don't get me wrong. I know many, many children and families that love cows and eat them too, lovingly and deliciously so, but we don't, and this was something unique for her to think about. This isn't the first time I've explained to her that we do things a bit different either, so she didn't seem too surprised. She asked if Aunt Sara, Uncle Brad and Sagey eat cows and pigs and I said "no." I think she's already realized that if we're a little different they probably are too.

Overall she seemed quite content with not eating pigs and cows. She did add that she does really like to drink cow's milk. When Zac got home she ran through our entire conversation with him, adding that when she's big, she can choose if she wants to eat cows and pigs, but for now, she'll just eat her hummus, strawberries and pasta.