OP is a vegan, and their wife is a pescetarian. They share a 5-year-old son with their ex-partner, a meat eater. The son spends one week at each house and eats vegan food at OP’s house, fish at their wife’s house, and mostly meat and potatoes at the ex-partner’s house.
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Recently, the son has been complaining about the food at the ex-partner’s house, which has led to an argument between OP and their ex-partner. The ex-partner believes that the vegan food at OP’s house is not providing enough nutrients for their son and that OP intentionally malnourished him. OP disagrees and points out that their son has well-balanced meals at their house.
The ex-partner has threatened to take OP to court and demand full custody if they do not stop “forcing their beliefs” on their son. OP suggests that the ex-partner should make more vegetables and less meat for their son, but the ex-partner objects, saying that OP should not tell them how to parent their child.
Overall, the situation is a disagreement between OP and their ex-partner over the diet of their shared son.
Be Prepared for Court
Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail. The famous line that strikes a chord with this strange and complicated situation:
“NTA and start prepping the information you need for the inevitable court hearing or mediation, like the nutritional content of the meals you are making and a diary of those meals. She doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
This is some excellent legal advice that may have well have come from a lawyer. Preparing the information in advance will allow OP to ensure that cold hard facts can meet any issue in court.
The OP has no ill intentions with his child. Therefore, OP must gain some form of control over the situation before he is irrationally taken through the judicial system because of the diet he follows.
The Wife Is Envious
Many suspect that this strange anger from OP’s partner is anger for different reasons. Her attempts at causing an issue are unfounded:
“Your ex, however, is very ignorant of how nutrition works. Your son is living the best of both worlds, getting access to all kinds of diets and food from the two different households.
If anything, it’s maybe because the food at your place is more delicious lol.”
Firstly, it is evident that OP’s ex-partner does not know what they are talking about. Pescatarians pretty much just add fish to an essentially vegan diet. Therefore, it is likely that the nutritional differences between the two diets are minimal at best.
It appears as if OP had been a vegan before their relationship broke down. Therefore, the problem their ex-partner is now having with the diet now seems totally ridiculous.
The writer of this comment makes a good point that the ex-partner may just be envious of the OP and the time they spend with their child. Perhaps these motives have persuaded the ex to take drastic action to try and keep the child for themselves.
She is Doing the Same
Many Redditors have pointed out the hypocrisy of what the ex-partner is saying:
“Nta…she says you are forcing your choice of food on your kid, but so is she. The kid is asking for veggies. I know enough kids who would gladly give away their greens….”
She follows a pescatarian diet which is effectively the same in terms of forcing a lifestyle on their child. In doing so, they effectively say they are just as bad as the OP. Therefore, she has no grounds for taking him to court.
The child has also indicated that they want more green vegetables, which is a sign that most parents would be proud of. It is bizarre to the thread participants how OP’s ex can act and think they have any grounds for a court hearing.
Source: Reddit
