‘She said I was corrupting our son’: Father buys his son fast food so that the boy can fit in with his friends; vegan wife flips out

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Sep 16, 2023 7:00 PM EDT

Vegans always have to tell everyone they're vegan and they incessantly force their vegan-ness on everyone around them. The Holy Crusade of veganism is a plague of misplaced good-intentions, which is all fun and games until we find families caught in the cross-hairs. Although the argument of a vegan diet is pretty solid (eating sustainably, environmental impact, health, animal rights, yada yada yada), the ultimate reason why nobody is doing it is because animal products are freakin' delicious. Cake, burgers, pizza, and flippin' CHEESE are foods that aren't on the menu for vegans and most people just can't handle that. For that reason, the vegans are isolated once again.

More specifically, one boy couldn't handle the loneliness of being vegan. As a 12 year old, he didn't care much about his diet to begin with, but when his vegan mother forced her dietary choices onto him, he felt the pang of being left out from all of the food-related activities. He could no longer go to the pancake breakfasts at school or participate in after-practice chicken nuggies with the team, so finally the kid broke down and started using his own cash to buy himself non-vegan snacks just so that he would fit in. 

When dad found out, he turned a 180-flip on the family diet and decided the boy's social well-being was more important than the life of a chicken headed for the slaughterhouse– His wife felt differently. Scroll for the full story on how veganism got totally out of hand when a woman put the lives of nameless livestock over the life of her own son. 

After this, read about this tradesman who's work gets devalued by a DIY neighbor, only to get completely vindicated when the neighbor's at-home project goes belly-up.

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  • 01
    Font - r/AmIthe/ ole. Posted by u/Lucky_Grass7069 6 hours ago AITA for giving my son non-vegan food behind my wife's back? Mode Activated I am (32M) and my wife is (33F.) We have been married for 8 years and have a 12 yo son together. About 6 years ago, my wife decided to go vegan. She was sent the
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 02
    Font - documentary Dominion by a vegan friend of hers and ever since has said nonvegan food is "revolting" and refuses to eat it. After a long conversation I agreed to go vegetarian and be vegan in the house and around her, which she was happy with. She also decided our son should be vegan, which
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 03
    Font - after seeing a dietician I also agreed with. Things have been fine with this arrangement until a few months ago when I began finding wrappers from nonvegan candy and even burgers from McDonald's in my sons school bag which he had been buying with chore money.
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 04
    Font - I had a conversation with my son and he confessed he felt lonely and excluded eating vegan around his friends and that they always had much better candy than he did and it wasn't fair. I decided I didn't want him spending his pocket money on
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 05
    Font - snacks and throwing out the vegan snacks we actually brought him instead of buying games etc, it made no sense, but I also know the way my wife feels about nonvegan products. So, I began buying my son what he wanted on our way to football practise instead.
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 06
    Font - Long story short, my wife recently found out what has been going on and completely flipped out. She called me an animal abuse enabler and a few other names and said I was corrupting our son. Now she is
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 07
    Font - not speaking to me, our son panicked and told her I had bought the snacks for him and he didn't know they weren't vegan (I don't blame him for that, he just doesn't want to be in trouble with mom) AITA here?
    via Lucky_Grass7069
  • 08
    Font - SeekingBeskar. 6 hr. ago ole Aficionado [19] NTA. I think my answer, at this point, would be, "Our son is old enough to decide what he wants to eat and what his dietary preferences are. If we put him into a situation where he feels he has to hide things from us, that's on us."
    via SeekingBeskar
  • 09
    Font - If your wife is confronting him about this in any kind of intimidating way or trying to make him feel guilty with the same phrases she's using with you, I would prioritise your son and his needs and well-being. St like this can cause a lot of problems.
    via SeekingBeskar
  • 10
    Font - Admirable_Remove6824 5 hr. ago I agree. She is trying to bully everyone with her choice. Does she forget most of her life eating animals. Now she wants everyone to do what she wants. Yes putting people in a position to lie is also bullying.
    via Admirable_Remove6824
  • 11
    Font - CynicallyCyn. 4 hr. ago I think we're also forgetting this is a 12 year old boy. Anybody who has spent time around a growing boy knows that they eat nonstop, literally they can eat an entire roasted chicken in a day and still be looking for food. I know plenty of kids are
    via CynicallyCyn
  • 12
    Font - vegetarian and fine, but that's because they choose to be. Having a kid walking around feeling hungry and unsatisfied all the time is borderline abuse And I'm saying this as a vegetarian of 15 years who fights for animal rights.
    via CynicallyCyn
  • 13
    Organism - Professional-Bear114. 47 min. ago But the kid chooses not to be vegan. His body, his choice. It's not like he's living on twinkies
    via Professional-Bear114
  • 14
    Font - JuliaFC 4 hr. ago Partassipant [2] also, if the choice his mother is imposing on his is making him socially awkward and possibly could lead to him being bullied or ostracised, I think his father did the right thing.
    via JuliaFC
  • 15
    Font - OP you're NTA for being approachable and look after your son's wishes and well being. However, I think you shouldn't have lied to your wife, which gives you a soft Y T A. I think SHE's also being an Mole by trying to impose her (newly found) beliefs to her whole family. Your son is a kid and afraid
    via JuliaFC
  • 16
    Font - of getting in trouble, which is understandable, but he too has been lying to his mother and something that could have been much easier with you and him explaining to her the whole situation could possibly lead to you being singled out and having to take the blame for all.
    via JuliaFC
  • 17
    Font - I think you should all sit down as a family and discuss the situation, explain to your wife the potential damage that not eating non-vegan food could do to your son's social life and make her understand that
    via JuliaFC
  • 18
    Font - she's free to make her own choice, but your son's body is his, your son's food choices are his, she has no right to impose her own beliefs and diet on him if he doesn't want to follow what she does.
    via JuliaFC
  • 19
    Font - Stray26174 hr. ago Partassipant [1] Have you met a militant vegan? The wife absolutely is one based on this post. They can't be reasoned with. She'll just yell and abuse them both and refuse to listen. OP likely knew this so did all he could to make this as easy on his son as he could.
    via Stray2617
  • 20
    Human body - fleepmo 2 hr. ago The vegan culture can be so incredibly toxic.
    via fleepmo
  • 21
    Font - JuliaFC 3 hr. ago Partassipant [2]] Yes, that is why I voted for NTA and only commented on the lie as a personal note. I think it's sad that this poor kid risks being bullied because his mother can't be reasoned with. I hope something can be done to make the situation better. I feel for Op
    via JuliaFc
  • 22
    Smile - Stray2617.3 hr. ago Partassipant [1] The mother is herself a bully so her kid being bullied won't be a blip on her radar
    via Stray2617
  • 23
    Font - Stray2617 . 4 hr. ago Partassipant [1] 100%. Veganism is a choice, the kid is old enough to decide if that's what they want. It's obviously not, so NTA for not forcing your wife's choice on him.
    via Stray2617
  • 24
    Food
    via u/canva

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dads aita diet vegans mother moms parenting dad diet choices story vegan reddit thread parent Reddit mom son parents Father
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