Ask Amy: Worried mom puts the cart before the carrot
I shared your question with Kathleen Rasmussen, professor of maternal and child nutrition at Cornell University, who responded: “It is possible to create a vegan diet that is nutritionally adequate for a pregnant woman and a growing child, but it requires thoughtfulness.
“For children, the concerns are having an adequate caloric intake as well as sufficient high-quality protein and key several micronutrients. These can be provided with a careful selection of appropriate foods.
“Children learn to love what their parents eat and, if shown by their parents, how to navigate social situations related to eating.”
I will add that I have two very young vegan family members who have shown an amazing ability to identify and discern their food choices, starting when they were toddlers. With guidance from their parents, if they are unsure if they can/should eat something, they just ask!
Following that guideline, if you are unsure about how to feed vegan family members — you can do the same.
Dear Amy: Family photos from my childhood had been in my sister’s possession when our father died 14 years ago (our mom had died years before).
My sister (my only sibling, in her 70s, as I am) had given the albums to her son. I asked him 10 months ago if I could have them for a while, and he said he’d let me know.
He eventually sent scans of my parents’ honeymoon, which are irrelevant to my own childhood photo history.
After many emails back and forth, he still won’t let me have them, even for a week or two to show my kids, and he continues to stonewall me on the scans.
Part of the backstory is that neither he nor my sister think I handled my dad’s death properly (I was working in another town). Neither of them like my current wife. And he thinks only he can take care of these old photos.
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