https://i.imgur.com/lN8rJnV.jpg?3

**The role of a stepparent is a weird one, right?** It's a role probably most people don't imagine or forsee themselves playing in their lives, but ultimately many people may end up part of a blended family. 
https://i.imgur.com/vkaW5VI.png
I became a stepparent to a 4 year old at the age of 24 and **it has been an awesome experience for me** to be a part of my stepdaughters life and have the family that I do, but it is definitely a journey into unknown territory with no manual. *There will always be different situations and curve balls thrown your way to keep you on your toes.*

**One curveball that I guess we threw ourselves recently is that myself and my husband stopped eating meat.** We watched Gary Yourofsky's [best speech ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4) and straightaway I went vegan, so no meat and no animal products, and my husband went vegetarian, so he still eats dairy. **So now our family unit is an interesting mix of vegan, vegetarian, and my omnivore stepdaughter.** 

One thing theres definitely no manual for is going vegan/vegetarian with a stepchild who is a meat eater. **Do you tell them about why?** *Do you still buy meat to cook for them at home?* It's a path that you have to tread carefully, so as not to step on anyones toes, or cause any harm. I tried to search on google a few times around this topic, with not much luck. 

# <center>No shame in your Game</center> #

**In our house there isn't any shame for anyone else's choices.** All you can worry about are your own choices. In the same way my husband still eats dairy, my stepdaughter still eats meat, and thats fine. When we go out for dinner, or to friends barbecues, sometimes she eats meat and sometimes she asks *"can I have something vegan?".* One thing I'm lucky with is that my husband does not do any of the cooking or food shopping in our house, so we only eat vegan at home. I know some people aren't so lucky, but I like knowing my fridge and kitchen are an animal-product-free-zone. 

# <center>Education</center> #

Children are curious and like to ask **"why"**. It must be a big change to suddenly see adults around you who consumed meat and dairy and eggs suddenly making efforts not to consume those things. I really like **Bite Size Vegan's videos for kids**, Sofia has only watched a couple of them, but they are great! *Here is one about eggs:* 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRpgSvzZNcI

# <center>Fun!</center> #

<center>Being a kid is fun, and being a parent or a stepparent I feel like you get to relive a little of that care-free child-like fun that we used to have before we became boring, miserable adults. **I guess veganism can seem like the opposite of fun to some people, but vegans can still do all the fun stuff too, like making Halloween cupcakes:**</center>
<center>https://i.imgur.com/RYBbwU5.jpg?1</center>
<center>**In fact, vegan cupcakes are way more fun to make than regular ones**, because instead of adding egg and milk to your regular box cake, you can just add a can of soda instead. *Add a can of Sprite to a light coloured cake, or a can of Coca Cola to a chocolate cake.*</center>
<center>https://i.imgur.com/zJGNlc5.jpg?1</center>

# <center>Awareness</center> #

Here is Sofia with a sticker chart that we made together. She understands the concept now of saving animals by not eating them, so if she does have a vegan meal then she puts a sticker on her sticker chart to represent that animal. Obviously she isn't vegan, so she doesn't always eat a vegan meal, but **I still think its cool that from an early age she will have that concept as part of her understanding of the world.** When you go vegan or vegetarian a lot of people feel like *"how did I not see things for what they really were all this time?"*. For example, even as an adult I was very naive as to the reality of how milk is produced and that the baby cows get taken away from their mums as soon as their born, in order for us to drink the milk that was meant for them. **I think the positive of having all kinds of influences in your life as a child is that hopefully you will grow up with a more well rounded view of the way the world works.** 
<center>https://i.imgur.com/R0zo18x.jpg?2</center>

# <center>Any other Vegan Stepparents out there? Or just stepparents in general trying to do the best in your role? Let me know in the comments!</center> #

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