Claire has been on a bit of a vegetarian kick lately.  It started two days ago, when she was recalling a fun part of Kindergarten.  A couple of months ago, the class had adopted several chicken eggs, which eventually hatched into live chicks in the classroom.  It was a really exciting development for the kids, and the chicks came out super cute.  They were tiny little fuzzy friends, and each of them received a name.  Claire’s favorite was Coco.

After recalling this fond memory about the cute little chicks, Claire concluded, “Then they send the chicks back to the farm.  Then the chicks grow up into chickens.  Then they roast the chickens into chicken.”  A little bit of anger has creeped into Claire’s face, and she proclaims, “Which is why I’ll never eat chicken!”

Claire is also now offended by hunting and trapping.  Yesterday at Claire’s summer camp, apparently some girls were trying to create a squirrel trap on the playground out of blocks.  I asked Claire if they were just making a pretend trap, and she said no, they really wanted to catch a squirrel.  I asked if they would let the squirrel go if they caught it, and she said no, they would keep it and maybe eat it.  This really angered Claire, and she said she did not like those girls, and they should leave squirrels alone.

This immediately reminded Claire of hunters.  She  launched into how much she hates hunters.  They are “dumb and boring and stupid and mean”, she said.  Finally, she said she was not going to eat meat.  She wanted to be “one of those people who only eat lettuce.  And artichokes and stuff.”   Vegetarians, I gather.  I helped her come up with a few other non-meat choices to eat.  Pasta, beans, rice, bread.  We agreed even milk was okay since it didn’t hurt the cow.  She did not seem too excited about the list, and so far Claire’s heart-felt vegetarian stance is only rhetorical.  Last night, Claire ordered pancakes with eggs and bacon at IHOP.  I’m sure she didn’t think about where the bacon and eggs came from.  If she did, she would have had second thoughts.  And before long, she may realize that we are just as bad egg thieves as the pigs in Angry Birds!