What Max and June Have to Say About Being Vegan Kids!

Haaaiii! Hello!

As of the updating of this post, June, Max, and I have been vegan for a little over 3 years! WOW! Does not feel like it’s been that long!

I love that the kiddos like to share how strong they want to grow (Max is a ninja in training, after all).

And what makes me really proud, is they share the hard parts too. The parts where temptation unfairly stands at every turn.

The following was written 3 years ago, when we first began our vegan journey:

June:

“Why I chose to be vegan.

Hi it’s June the “inspiration” my mom has been talking about. Well why I chose to be vegan was……

I thought to myself and put myself in the animal’s boots, uhm, I mean hooves, right? Well if we were animals then what if people came to kill us because they’re hungry!!!

Ok how many of you have seen the movie Trolls? If you have not, SPOILER ALERT, so don’t read if you haven’t. I did and that is like an example of non-veganism. The Burgins are creatures that don’t know how to be happy so they eat the trolls to be happy.

That’s how we are when we eat animals to keep from being hungry. So the thought of being vegan was even more stuck in my head.

I talked to my mom about being vegan for a long time! She always said we couldn’t right now because it was too much work. One day she must have changed her mind. She showed me and Max these awesome videos by uhm… moooommmm who were those videos by?

…by Bite Size Vegan, and our journey of veganism began!”

Next, June also wrote this about what it’s like to be a vegan kid!

“What is it like to be vegan in places other than my home?

Sometimes you go out to eat or you eat with your friends at school. It can be hard if you are a vegan and they are not. As silly as this sounds, some people make fun of you when you are vegan. That happens to me but it’s just 1 girl so I’m pretty lucky. 

But the U.N.C.W food truck has lots of delicious food that is vegan. One time I went there and had a delicious veggie-burger with sweet potato fries and yummy tater-tots. It was so good!

At school is the hardest because you have friends and good friends share. So, say you were a vegan and your friend offered you a brownie which has milk and eggs in it. You can’t have that if you are a vegan.

So, you either 1. eat it and feel bad or 2. say no thanks and feel good about yourself for doing what is right for you.

But my mom packs me and my bro Max delicious lunches everyday (thanks mom).                                                       

She usually packs us some berries and vegetables, a sandwich or rollup, and a bag of nuts or something sweet (like chocolate or a cookie).

My top 5 favorite vegan foods are:

• Everything RITZ crackers
• Amy’s Organic Enchiladas
• U.N.C.W food truck
• Pickled okra
• Lavender cupcakes from Pink Baking Co. in downtown Wilmington, N.C.”

With all honesty, this is probably one of the first truly creative writing projects that I’ve seen June do, and I did not edit or change what she wrote. I love her tone! Don’t you?? She’s a funny character, I look forward to her writing us more stuff!

And, naturally, just like with going vegan in the first place, when Max caught wind that June was writing something for the blog, he wanted to write something, too! Sadly I did not snap a picture as I was in the middle of doing the dinnertime juggling act, but I assure you he looked adorable slowly pushing each letter with his widdle fingers.

This is what Max had to say:

“I want to tell you all about how hard it is TO BE A VEGAN. At my school A LOT OF PEOPLE are not vegan. I try to tell them about what happens. People won’t listen to me and I want the world to be vegan. That is my way. I’m a vegan to save the world.

                                  Thank you for being vegan with us

                                                             By: Max”

Yeah, I’m not crying, you’re crying. No, I’m crying because I’m their mom and I still can’t believe how determined, devoted, and kind these little people that BELONG TO ME are! Like I said before, at that age I did NOT have that kind of understanding or discipline to do what they are doing!

But you know what, I do think it’s really important to realize that no, it’s NOT always easy. Well, maybe it is for June. That girl is just not even having any of it! She never used to take a huge interest in food, but ever since I let her go vegan, she is the first one in the store comparing boxes, reading labels, and SO EXCITEDLY finding alternatives to her favorite foods.

I have yet to see her get down about a cupcake she “can’t” have. I am sure it happens sometimes, but she surely doesn’t let it show. It has made my own transition to veganism really easy. If SHE can do it, we can do it too! 🙂

Max, who just turned 7, also matches his sister in most of that determination. He is happy to make good choices, and is a lover of green veggies (yeah that was a miracle, lol). He loves anything that will give him “rock hard abs” one day.

But, he was also a die-hard lover of Pizza, Mac and cheese, “chicken on the bone”, cheese, and all the other things that are not even close to being vegan. And guess what, sometimes he struggles. And guess what else, that’s SO okay!

For a boy who can’t tie his own shoes yet, to be so selfless as to sacrifice those things EVERY DAY to do what he feels is right…I never expected him to be this dedicated.

So, while mom diligently plays in the kitchen 99% of her life, trying to create the meatiest, tastiest quinoa ball there ever was, or the BEST tofu fried chicken this side of the green pasture…Max tries REAL hard to like them all.

However, something I’ve come to realize is that this isn’t a new “battle”. Kids are picky eaters, they like the above listed staples, not necessarily the fancy things us grownups are creating. So I take the good with the bad, and each day we strive to make the best choices possible.

So that’s it for now guys! This is where we are all at with our journey! Definitely big life changes all around, and we are SO happy to have all of you with us!