Her mother-in-law fails to understand the concept of vegetarianism or food allergies, but when she deliberately feeds meat to her daughter, she fears that her cynicism might have dangerous repercussions if not avoided in the future.
A Concerned Parent’s Dilemma
As a parent, she was faced with a dilemma and desperately sought advice on whether she was overreacting in response to her mother-in-law’s actions. The question is whether she’s justified in banning her mother-in-law from feeding her daughter.
The Vegetarian Daughter
Her 9-year-old daughter recently became a vegetarian, a choice taken seriously by the child due to her passion for animals. However, the decision was much to the annoyance of her grandmother for some strange reason.
A History of Conflict
There was a history of conflict regarding the child’s vegetarian diet, including a previous confrontation. The mother-in-law seemed to back off after the child’s mother made it clear she wasn’t interested in her input.
Meat Free Ingredients
Things took a dramatic turn when the grandmother served spaghetti during a family gathering, claiming it was a special veggie sauce. It seemed like she had finally got the message.
Suspicious Meat Flavor
Halfway through, her daughter started to panic as it tasted very much like meat. She asked her mother-in-law if she was sure there was no meat in the sauce. She insisted there was none.
Deceptive Dinner
Concerned about her daughter’s outburst, she took her plate to inspect, and sure enough, there was beef in her sauce. Her mother-in-law had, in fact, completely blindsided her!
Truth or Lie
She was in two minds about whether to inform her daughter of the real ingredients. She could lie to her to protect her feelings, as well as protect her mother-in-law’s cruelty. Or she could tell the truth and effectively drop her mother-in-law’s act like a bombshell!
Devastation Hits
She decided to tell the truth. It was only fair to let her daughter know she’d eaten meat. Her daughter’s reaction was a bad one, and she ran out of the room, crying her eyes out.
Anger Sets In
She took her into the living room to calm her down while her husband confronted his mom. Her daughter was in a really bad way, upset that she’d betrayed her promise to refrain from eating meat. She felt irate at her mother-in-law.
The Excuse
Her mother-in-law insisted it was an accident at first, but after her husband established that he ‘didn’t buy that for a second,’ she admitted it was intentional. She said she thought by reminding her how delicious meat was, she would “give up that vegetarian nonsense!”
No Drama
She said she couldn’t see what the big deal was and suggested they get their daughter therapy because the fact she cried over it was, “Very troubling and a sign something is SERIOUSLY wrong with her!”
Time to Go
At that point, she insisted they leave. She was starting to seriously consider throwing the spaghetti in her face but knew it would traumatize the kids. The civilized approach was always best, if not the most desirable.
Empathy and Explanation
In the car, the parents consoled their daughter, emphasizing that there was nothing wrong with her and that her grandmother was in the wrong. She seemed to have already come to that conclusion on her own, though.
An Insincere Apology
The grandmother offered a half-hearted apology via text, laced with explanations that minimized her actions. She mentioned how meat was important for growth, and she needed it, and so on. A selfish apology, one might say.
Impossible Explanation
They were beyond livid. Her husband tried to figure out things to say to his mother to get her to understand his daughter’s feelings, like asking her how she would feel if someone tricked her into eating a dog.
Divided Emotions
While her husband was keen to make his mother understand, she felt that wasn’t necessary. They shouldn’t have to defend their daughter’s personal choice not to eat meat and her right to have that respected.
No Validation
She felt that they shouldn’t have to try to validate her feelings of being deeply upset after she was tricked into doing something she was strongly morally opposed to by someone she trusted.
The Erosion of Trust
She told her husband she doesn’t trust his mother to feed her kids anymore. He thought she was overreacting and they should give her a second chance once the dust settled, but her trust was gone.
Poor Morals
Her mother-in-law took it upon herself to decide her daughter was ‘wrong‘ for being a vegetarian and tried to ‘fix’ her. She decided she knew best and to ignore not only her daughter’s boundaries but theirs as her parents not to push meat on her.
Fears for the Younger Child
It also worried her because their 5-year-old had a peanut allergy that her mother-in-law scoffed at. She’d never tried to sneak her peanut products, but she did dismiss it as “probably not serious” and said how people “outgrow allergies, so she probably will too!”
A Matter of Respect and Trust
After this incident with the meat, she was terrified she’d decide to ignore that food restriction, too. And what if she fed meat to her other daughter again when she wasn’t around to check?
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