My vegetarian pre-teen

My 11 year-old son, Colin, has been vegetarian since birth. I had a vegetarian pregnancy and he was born weighing 8lbs 1 oz., 21" when I was 30. On my vegetarian feeding adventure with him, I experimented with different veggie choices to feed him. At one point, when he was an older baby, I came up with a concoction that was a mixture of baby cereal, tofu, yogurt, and flax oil. He loved it! I suppose he didn't quite know better. :-) By about the age of 2, he was done with this.

A challenge I experienced as I went back to work was his diet at day care. As a 2 and 3 year-old, he was getting enticed by what he would see around him and a yogurt mixture was just not going to cut it! The alternatives they had for him sometimes consisted of two pieces of bread and cheese - not grilled or toasted and no condiments. ***sigh***I've been relieved to see that his school has included more and more vegetarian options the past few years. These include bean burritos, pizza, vegetables and fruit. At one point, his choice consisted just of a pb&J sandwich.

I'm also relieved to see that there are increasingly more vegetarian choices in general every year. The market is growing and the increasing competition helps us consumers. It's never been easier to feed kids a vegetarian diet. An easy favorite of even Colin's non-vegetarian friends is veggie dogs or smart dogs. They are certainly a healthier choice for anyone. The stand-by of veggie burgers are always popular and the varieties available keep increasing.

My pre-teen son certainly has more vegetarian choices than my infant daughter, but she doesn't notice yet. I look forward to seeing what veggie choices will be available to her when she is Colin's age.