The Lightbulb Came On

I have two boy Caterpillars, the oldest being B10 who is 7.

Now, for the last 6 years B10 has had a fascination with animals. He watches Animal Planet 4-5 hours a day, usually while reading along in one of his many Animal books, and he's constantly "sharing" his newfound knowledge with Fiancé, CW, and I. Such as this snippet of conversation from last night:

"Mummy?"

"Yes, my beloved B10."

"No one in this family is EVER allowed to eat honey!"

"And why ever not?"

"It's BEE VOMIT, Mummy. BEE VOMIT!"

(Yes, B10 announced yesterday that he will be using the British phrase "mummy" rather than "mommy" from now on, which is not surprising since I call my Mother "Mum" and B10 has taken to using other Britishisms such as telling CW "Ello Guv'ner" in a British accent every morning. CW is not amused.)

So, anyway, we were all seated at the table, I having made one of the Caterpillars favorite meals of Pizza Soup and Fish Sticks, when B10 gets very upset as he finishes his soup. I end up on the sofa with a 7-year old sobbing in my lap. It takes a full ten minutes I finally get him to calm down enough to talk to me.

It seems my beloved oldest son has just realized that pepperoni is made from pig - an animal. And fish sticks come from actual fish. And the cheeseburgers he adores - were once a cow. It took every ounce of willpower I possess to calmly explain that if he wanted to be a vegetarian Mummy would help him figure out his meals, but that God said it was okay to eat animals.

Three hours later, he’s stopped crying, but his guilt has sent him searching through my children’s cookbooks (while watching Animal Planet, of course) and trying to find vegetarian recipes that he thinks he would enjoy.

I am almost more worried about helping him deal with his guilt when he chooses to eat animals again. I can handle cooking something different for him for now, but when he starts craving his cheeseburgers...

My poor B10...