Vegan Family Friends

There are days when I feel so alone being vegan. Sure, there are other vegan folk around but they're all single. Some days it's tough raising a vegan family. Am I the only one doing this? There are those days... when everyone is giving their kids Goldfish crackers... or days when the moms are discussing the best organic beef... or when someone makes endless dumb vegan jokes in front of your child. Yeah, those days. The days when I need to hear someone say, "You, too? And I thought I was the only one living the vegan life!"

Here are some sites offering great relief, advice and, yes, camaraderie for those renegade vegan families:

VegFamily

Vegan Family House

Vegan Family Living

VegSource: Veg Parenting

VeganHealth.org: Profiles of Real Vegan Children

The Vegetarian Resource Group

PETA Media Center: Vegan Children--Healthy and Happy

Enjoy!

Do Moms Have a Harder Time Making Friends?

I think so. And so do many others over at Natural Moms Talk Radio.

Here's my response to their post. This basically sums up my thoughts:

I’m always struggling to make new friends. In one way, having a baby makes it easier to engage in small talk with other moms and say, “Hey, we both have little ones, let’s hang out.” But that’s only if I get the opportunity to actually talk to anyone!

I go to a playgroup every week and it’s just like the one described above–hectic. My one year-old son and I always arrive late so I miss out on all the conversations. Then I’m always chasing him as he tries to climb up chairs. I barely get to talk to anyone. Week after week we go to this playgroup and I still feel like a stranger to the group. I can’t help but feel like the outsider.

It’s so hard to break in. I don’t want to be melodramatic or paranoid, but I feel like they all hang out and leave us out. I mean, I remind myself that I go to playgroup primarily to expose my son to other kids but it’s as much for the moms, too. Hopefully I can actually talk to people when my son starts playing by himself.

I just feel like I'm dating again. "Does she like me? Can I ask for her number? Will we hang out? Is this (friendship) meant to be?"

As if I didn't have enough to worry about, now I need to make sure I have enough mama friends in my life. As for vegan mama friends... Yeah right! I'm not someone who holds a prerequisite that all my friends be vegan, but it would be nice to have someone to talk animal rights with. (I've met a great deal of vegan bitches/assholes who, while we share the same ethical views regarding animals, I would rather befriend a chair than deal with them for 10 minutes.) But it's just so hard to make new friends.

Any thoughts?

(Sorry if this post is rather jumpy... Keep in mind that it's almost 2 am! Bedtime is just around the corner...)

[Image via "Julie, Dave & Family" (Flickr)]

Hey, Is That a New Header?

Why, yes it is. Finally my site is coming into fruition. Now I just have to work on that whole content thang...

I have a teething child, I painted the bathroom today, I organized my jewelry--man, that made me realized how badly I need to grow up. My jewelry basically consisted of a box full of jelly bracelets and a plastic pink and blue spiked bracelet. Oh, and a Snoopy necklace.

I didn't do much writing, though. Oh, well.

That's my day in a nutshell. Oh, and I think we might take a trip to Chicago. I need to get outta this city for a bit. Nothing personal, just need to get away from the hum-drum daily grind.

Ok. Teething son beckons...