12-year-old stepson admits he is tired of being a vegetarian after having been raised meat-free, so his stepdad encourages him to change his diet but his biological vegetarian mom forbids him: ‘[He] still really wants to eat meat’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Sep 11, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

There are dietary restrictions and voluntary dietary choices. Individuals who decide to eat a certain way and exclude certain products from their diet are welcome to do so—but is it ethical to project this onto others, too? The 12-year-old in this next story admits to his mother and stepdad that he wants to start eating meat after having been raised vegetarian his entire life, but his mother, who is also vegetarian, refuses to accept it. Does the stepdad have any ground here? I think that's the wrong question to be asking.

The guidebook to parenting is ever-growing. How do we reconcile the fact that we cannot control every facet of our children's lives, even if they're still minors and living under our roofs? The truth is, reconciliation begins with letting go; the mother in this next story is exercising control on the grounds of her own understanding of moral correctness, but in doing so, she is hurting her child. Commenters under the story even explain that the 12-year-old has likely already eaten meat before, and is only now comfortable with asking for permission to continue with this diet. The stepdad, though many might say he is speaking out of turn, is a father figure, too. How do you differentiate between doing what's best for your kid and doing what you think is best for them? Scroll below to read the full story and the ethical debate that follows.

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