Why people are like this?

[Gosia]

I had to cut my 4-year-old daughter's weekly outings with her auntie (whom she loves a lot), because her auntie blatantly ignored my wishes about how I want to raise my daughter. Last time, she took my daughter to McDonalds (despite the fact that I packed a box full of yummy things for my daughter, including strawberries, kiwi, cut up carrots and raw cookies). She tells my daughter that at "her place" my daughter can eat anything (this is what I learned just yesterday). And then, when I want to talk to her about that, she decides not to answer the phone and not to respond to my messages. Isn't she going to far? How someone can expect to have a relationship with my daughter, when they can't even respect me?

Then, I hear from someone that it is "my diet" that is weird. Can someone explain to me, because I really fail to understand, in what way there can be more nutritional value in fried chips or fish fingers than in those delightful things that I packed for my daughter???

I had a really bad couple of days and am glad that it's finally over. :(

Thanks for listening.

[Veganmama]

(((HUGS)))

That's really harsh on you, you'ld hope that family members could ast least be respectful of you lifestyle even if they don't totally agree. I also don't understand why we ar ethe weird ones feeding our kids wonderful food prepared with love and with thought of our chidlrens health and wellbeing and the "normal" ones are those that feed their kids fast foods and neve think about the value of that food.

I have a real problem telling people about the girlss being raw atm as i'm going for full custody and i'm sure my ex would use it against me.

Just keep doing what your doing Gosia, with the knowledge that your a great mum, who is doing a wonderful thing for her daughter.

[FEELIN'GOOD]

Hi Goshi!

So sorry to hear you are in this pickle... I have a similar problem with a good friend of mine. On the weekends we get together and watch her boys play football- my kids love going and my girlfriend and I get to chat. Well, I always pack the kids great snacks like sliced strawberries, raisins, bananas, carrot sticks, and bottled water. When the kids come to me for their snacks she makes comments to me in front of them that I need to stop feeding them like rabbits.... It drives me insane. Yet her snack bag has ~you guessed it~ fruit by the foot, lays potato chips, cokes, and M&M's... yum. People love to sabatage your efforts when they are too weak minded to see the truth themselves. Stay strong for your girls! Good luck...

[marigold]

grrrrrrrrrrrr i have a friend and she takes her girl to her grans and she thinks its outrageous that her grand daughter is vegan and doesnt have this and that and constantly feeds her up on junk crap..going against my mates wishes..mind you she has a go at her for beign raw too!!

[Alissa]

Gosia,
i don’t have children but i can still relate to this as i see it happen with my nieces. kind of in reverse, like wanting to take them and run as fast as i can out of the way of family who is yelling at them to 'drink their milk and eat the rest of their steak.' one of my nieces wants to be a vegetarian and my brother just thinks that’s ridiculous and will have no part of her doing that.
Its so sad though to hear that she wont be able to see her auntie who she loves and its kind of a bummer to make food such a big issue for her as you don’t want her to have a ton of eating and food related issues when older.
Maybe you could write a long letter really explaining to the aunt what the deal is and that you really want her to see your niece but have to do what you feel is the healthiest for her and if she cant respect that then you feel like she is not respecting you as a mother. Anyway, im sure you know what to say, but it would be so sad to not have her be able to see her auntie that she loves as that is so important - the human bond of love and caring. I think that impacts a child as much as food choices don’t you? Wow, i can see how this could be so frustrating. i remember my first husband joking with me about having kids when i would say they would be vegan or vegetarian ( i wasn’t raw at the time) and then going over his family's house for dinners and his sister would sit there feeding her 8 month old ice cream and everyone thinking it was so cute. i would be fighting with him on the way home saying 'how could she do that! doesn’t she know that’s not good for her, i would never let your family watch our kids' HA we didn’t even have kids and we were fighting about it! This really is a tough issue, be nice to hear from someone who has really solved this.
Best of luck.
Alissa

[Alissa]

Hey gosia,
I just read this to my husband who raised two kids vegan (they are in their late 20's) he said to tell your sister 'if you don’t abide by what the rules are around how i want to raise my kid, your not going to see her, its up to you, period,'
He is not one to mince words. Him and his ex-wife were raising their kid’s vegan over 25 years ago when it wasn’t even known what vegan was. He said he laid down the law even though his relatives didn’t like it and thought they were hippy freaks. He said if he ever finds out they are feeding them other foods they won’t see them anymore.
His kids have never tasted meat, fish or chicken to this day.
So there you go, i guess you just have o lay down the law. He said if you are wishy washy about it so would they be. And like he said, its not like she’s even feeding her ‘healthy’ cooked food, but McDonalds!

[Gosia]

Thank you all for your supportive comments, I really appreciate your kindness. Thank you so much!!! :) :) :)

Of course, I wish that it had never happened, but perhaps I need to learn something from this.

There is more. Guess what, this woman was so angry at me cuting the ties, that she decided to report me for child abuse! I am not particularly worried about that (my kids are not 100% raw and being vegetarian is not illegal), but feel hurt that someone that I let enter my life, has treated me this way.

Against her is that fact that she is a drug user, possum killer (it is illegal here in Australia) and has borderline personality disorder (and is extremely volatile, not even talking to her own mother). You could ask why did I ever let her be around my kids. Well, I thought that there was a good relationship between them (my kids used to love to see her) and I thought that it was good for them. So, I embraced her just the way she was. I should have been wiser, I know now.

Ohh, raw foodist curse got me!!! So far, I never had any problems of that sort. Oh well, there is always the first time.

Keep tuned. I will let you know how my "interview" with the authorities went. This could make an interesting read (if only I could write well).

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Alissa,

I'm so surprised that your brother feels that way about feeding children well. Hasn't he seen the BIG change in you since you changed your diet? How about the change in your Husband? Doesn't your brother see and realize that it's what you're eating that made this difference? You would think he would want good health for his children too.

We're real lucky, in a sense, that we can use "health" for some of our reasons. My daughter, who isn't raw, but is striving to eat more raw, would eat rice and grains and her son, who was breast fed only broke out in Eczema to the point that he scratched until he bled. She felt so bad. I suggested that she cut out rice and grains and it worked. He's fine. She can eat grains now, but not rice. He's almost 14 months now and is eating a little. We just tell people he can't have grains because of the ecezma and they accept that. As long as you have a health issue (allergies) then it's okay you don't eat it. So he eats just fruits and some dehydrated bars (flaxseed, figs, raisins...).

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Alissa]

oh my god, you poor thing! i cant believe people still have to defend feeding their children healthy foods!!
Ridiculous!
Best of luck with all of that, i hope blows over quickly.
Alissa

[Alissa]

Hi Helen,
One of my sisters is all raw and has brought her kids up mostly vegan and raw and healthy, my other sister has a daughter that im really close to and when she was 13 came to visit me for a week and i turned her in a vegetarian. She is now 21 and still veg.(i tried to get her to go raw but she is into her been burritos and couldn’t do it for more then a day). That sister has done raw with me and stayed on it off and on. My first sister who i mentioned has two children who are really close in age to me. One is 31. She lives here in CA and we are really close. She just called and said she needs to fit into her wedding dress and wants to go raw with me again. I lived with her for 2 years about 6 years ago when i lived in CA and she went raw and has a baby who i fed all raw for the first year of her life, now she's all veggie.
My whole family is open to it, my mother is in my book and went all raw at 71 and healed her bursitis and painful vein in her leg. Even my father tasted everything she was making and ate it.
But then there is my brother, he saw how my sister healed her lead poisoning after 18 years of excruciating pain and how i eat this way, healed myself and work with people who ive told him about that have had miraculous healings.
But he wants to believe he has a 'leave it to beaver' lifestyle and his wife is a 'keep up with Jones’s kind of person. Im not that close with them anymore, especially since i got in a fight with her mother at the dinner table once... but that, although pretty funny, is another story....we also had an incident where we all got together in Florida and my brother kept his two daughters sitting at the table saying, drink your milk, you cant leave until you drink your milk, meanwhile they were already eating a big bowl of homemade macaroni and cheese that my mother had made them! My sister finally started saying how bad milk is for them and then I chimed in and he actually told us to shut up. Then my other sister and my mother chimed in, he got pissed and said, this is the way I want to raise them so get off my back. My sister starting sending him the not milk web site and all of those. He’s just too straight and not very open minded.
Im just not into convincing them. Im sure his daughter will grow up and rebel at some point and be stronger for it.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Alissa,

I'm so glad to hear that the rest of your family is into what is "healthy" for them and their family!!!! That's fantastic.

I know my 2 children, my brother, and even my DH a little, have seen the difference once they increased their raw foods. My daughter and brother both are trying or wanting to try to eat better because they got to experience the great feeling of being high raw. I know when the time is right, they'll get back into it more. It isn't easy, but at least they know what to do. (Hey, I'm struggling in this area too).

I'm not sure what's going to happen once my grandson gets a little older. At church the workers can "understand" him not having grains (Cherrio's, Fruitloops, gold fish, etc.) when they feed it to all the others, because he does have a health issue (eczema) with this. They say things like "maybe he'll out grow it" or "poor little boy". If we said he couldn't have it because it's not healthy for him, I'm sure I would get strange looks and comments. Thank goodness at his age they only feed the above foods I mentioned. But once he gets older, we'll have to express why he's not eating other foods due to it not being healthy. Al ready my DH asked me "when can he start to eat eggs?". And my father-in-law gave our grandson a lick of Kentucky Fried Chicken mashed potatoes!!!!!! :eek: I told him not to do that again. In the mean time Bryson threw it up :D

I know that slowly people are starting to understand the benefits of eating better, but it's a small percentage. I hope the movement continues this way, making it easier on those of us who are trying to eat this way now.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

Although I just learned that one of our Pastors and his wife are doing the Hallelujah Diet (85% raw); I'm hoping others will follow suit, but being a Southern Baptist Church . . . . Fried Chicken, Deep Fried Cat Fish . . . . :eek:

[tglasco4]

People are mostly addicted to foods that society considers "normal" but we who are raw understand to be poison. Even if people close to you see changes in you, even if they are church going people (supposedly "loving" christians), even if they are normally open-minded, misery loves company. I have had people from all the above-mentioned categories act strange or even hostile toward me because I am eating and advocating the raw lifestyle. I have never told anyone that they should eat 100% raw, yet I have people saying I have. Its their own conscience. I have 3 children living at home, I don't even let my own mom have them alone. Not because they wouldn't make good decisions (I am positive they would) but because I know my mom might disrespect my wishes and then I wouldn't allow her to see them at all. To me, protection of our children on all levels (even if it seems fanatical to others) is part of parental responsibility. Let people kill themselves with dead food and the flesh of dead animals if they choose to, those little souls that have been lent to me from God will be kept from it until they are old enough to make their own lifestyle decisions.

Peace.

Todd

[Alissa]

[QUOTE those little souls that have been lent to me from God will be kept from it until they are old enough to make their own lifestyle decisions.
[/QUOTE]
I like the way you put that.
Yes, i too never preach to people but find they often get hostile just 'seeing' me eat raw foods!
Its so much our conditioning isn’t it... well, maybe on some level they are getting it since these people are in our lives for a reason and us in theirs.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Todd,

What a great father you are!!!!!!

I'm the grandmother, so I do have to be a little more careful pushing what I know is right onto my grandson. My daughter is about 85% with me, but she is already say things like, when he's older and with friends . . . etc. So I have a feeling my little grandson won't be all raw, but when he's with me, that is all he'll get from me :) Right now he lives with me so that is what he gets. Hopefully when he eats all raw with me, he'll FEEL the difference than when he eats junk with his friends (that his mother will allow).

Right now when we visit relatives, I don't let Bryson out of my sight, out of fear that someone will feed him cooked foods, like my father-in-law did when I left the room for a few moments and he gave him some mashed potatoes (from Kentucky Fried Chicken - YUCK).

I'm so glad to hear that you are bringing your 3 up so healthy. It's hard, but I really am starting to see more and more people leaning this way. People are starting to see what our medical profession has done to us. Just check out how many pharmacies are in your town. Where I live you can have a CVS on one corner and a Walgreens on the other and they both are doing booming business. How Sad!!!! Everyone seems to be sick and people are noticing now and wondering why.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Sweet lips]

Whew! I count myself blessed in everything with this. My husband was a vegetarian when I met him, so there immediatley my cooking family we really are foodist -after finding out that meant no fish and chicken, began to cook something non-meat for him, which usually contained cheese and that was what he was eating. When I was pregnant with Andrew, DH asked me if I would mind not feeding Andrew flesh and I agreed. Andrew is 16 now, and has never knowingly had any flesh, and I say that because he has eaten in commercial places. He has always understood how to handle himself, even when he visited friends - at 3 years old, he was able to tell his teacher, not to give him noodle soup for lunch because it was made with chicken. She got really upset and called me, and I patiently explain to the teacher his lifestyle (I was still eating fish and chicken), and she apologized because she didn't think of chicken as meat.

When I deceided to go raw (stuggled with myself), he opted not to do it, but eliminated diary from his diet, as did my DH, who has encouraged me and has stopped eating outside of the house, so he is mostly raw as I am. However, this weekend, we attended the NAtural Food Expo, and Andrew got so involved in how manufacturers produced the food, although some natural, there were still some non-pure foods in the packaged stuff. He wants now, wholesome food. Yes, I agree with Todd that Andrew only has been loaned to me, but Gosia, just as my Andrew knows what he can eat, and what not to eat, your daughter will also do your proud. ;) Children emulate their parents. With us being African American, our diet has always been a topic of discussion, but not as much as before, since my Pastor's wife has become a vegan, we see somethings happening with the high fat sunday dinner, there is always a vegan dish present, I introduced some raw - the marinated greens, which went over really well, and so we see some changes.

Andrew is always asked do you want this, or even adults (whom I wonder why they feel they have the right to discuss my child's diet with him), who ask or even tell him, once you move away from your family, you'll probably eat meat - he shruggs at that because he has done his own research, and seen youth his age getting sick from environmental issues, like heavy meat eaters with type 2 diabetes at age 14, heart problems as teenagers, and the like.

Have faith, it does work out.

[tglasco4]

The really cool thing about raising your kids with certain principles is, they stick to them. Before I was raw, I was a vegan. One day about 2 yrs ago my family and I were out driving most of the day and got home late. The next morning the kids were hungry and my wife was tired so I took everyone out to friendly's for breakfast. As I said, I was vegan but not a very good one I don't think. Anyways, when we were asked what we wanted I chose the pancakes with potatoes. My kids chose the french toast with potatos. When the french toasted arrived, I noticed it had been dipped in eggs. I wasn't going to say anything, but my youngest child (my daughter Jessica, then aged 7), whom I would think would give me the hardest time with regard to diet, looked up at me and asked "Daddy, is this vegan?" I told her it wasn't but if she wanted to eat it she could this one time. She asked "Does this have eggs in it?" I told her yes, at that moment all 3 of my children flatly refused to eat the meal. I was so proud of them and if I didn't know it before, I knew then that they would always make healthy choices and no one would be able to sway them. Since then, now that I have been eating raw, one day my wife took them to our favorite Italian restaurant (I was out of town). They usually love this place because of the eggplant subs and the curly fries. My wife reported to me how they refused the fries. They all said they wanted extra salad instead! Yes, train up a child in the way he should go, it really does work. Especially when you show alot of patience and love and lead by example.

Todd

[tglasco4]

Hi Helen!

Yes you are right. I live in a very small town (about 500 people). 15 miles aways is what we call the "city"....it has about 20,000 people (LOL some big city, especially for me coming from New York), but in that little city, it has at least 6 or 7 major drug stores. Its ridiculous. But if anyone has any knowledge of history, its like what happened to the chinese a few centuries ago when the whole nation was hooked on opium. Between prescription drugs, processed foods, alcohol and subliminal messages in advertising, Revelation 18 is ringing true... "for by thy sorceries (pharmakia), were all nations decieved" (I am paraphrasing). God help us and bless people like Alissa who are trying to awaken people from a death stupor.

Peace

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Todd,

My DH and I lived in NJ, just across the river from Manhattan (we could see the Empire State Building from our bedroom window). We then moved to Point Reyes Station, CA, Population 350. It was scary. We were laying in bed one night (it was very dark) and we heard something. It kind of startled us . . . it was a cow. It is so different from all the lights and horn honking we heard throught the night in NJ. LOL

Anyway, people need to note, like we have, the increase in drug stores, medical centers, hospitals. It's awful. I live in a town of 15,000 and we have a number of medical centers, even one cardiologist center in town.

Even now, look at the news pertaining to the Flu Vaccine. If people only knew . . . .

I only go to my doctor for my thyroid (trying to get off meds via raw diet) and hope to not have to do this much longer. Other than that I only see him for injuries (sparring). I can't wait until I no longer have to ever see him again.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[smasty]

Great thread here! I can't add much to the great responses (nodding my head to all of them!). Gosia, I'm so sorry you're going through this. Of course you have the right to decide how your child should eat and have that respected!

[tglasco4]

Hi Helen,

So now you are a country girl! LOL. Hey, if you continue on the path you have started, you WILL be forever free from both the meds and the doctors and that will be a reason to rejoice! :)

Peace and blessings to you on your journey to that freedom.

Todd

Hi Todd,

My DH and I lived in NJ, just across the river from Manhattan (we could see the Empire State Building from our bedroom window). We then moved to Point Reyes Station, CA, Population 350. It was scary. We were laying in bed one night (it was very dark) and we heard something. It kind of startled us . . . it was a cow. It is so different from all the lights and horn honking we heard throught the night in NJ. LOL

Anyway, people need to note, like we have, the increase in drug stores, medical centers, hospitals. It's awful. I live in a town of 15,000 and we have a number of medical centers, even one cardiologist center in town.

Even now, look at the news pertaining to the Flu Vaccine. If people only knew . . . .

I only go to my doctor for my thyroid (trying to get off meds via raw diet) and hope to not have to do this much longer. Other than that I only see him for injuries (sparring). I can't wait until I no longer have to ever see him again.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Broken]

I take medication for a disorder which is genetic. I have no idea if I'll ever be healed of this or not. I'm grateful to live in a time in which I can lead a "normal" life. For me, up until now, this has been through the daily use of one medication. While it would be wonderful to be healed of this, I'm not sure that will happen. Until it does, I take the meds.

Having said that, I will not take medication for much of anything else. My doctor wanted me to go on lipitor, I changed my diet, and now don't need it. I think 99% of our "health issues" are self-induced. :(

[corky]

Just reading through all these and have been through much of this myself. I even had a cousin tell me she could not talk to me anymore because i was vegan and 'killing' my children and homeschooling which would make them idiots. She couldn't take my lifestyle--yet she gave her children tbsp. of oil so they could go to the bathroom to get their food out they were so constipated from all the dairy they ate!--I wouldn't have believed it had i not been over that day to witness it! Oh and extra margarine to help as well! At the same time my sister stopped talking to me, my inlaws couldn't stand that we wouldn't eat bacon at the x'mas dinners etc etc. SO to answer something Alissa mentioned above as to how to deal with it-- I decided to up and move my family 1000miles away! I couldn't be happier not dealing with all that abuse--it wasn't just because of them--i was searching for a healthier place to live and i have found a place with many homeschoolers, veg. but no raw yet. Although Victoria Boutenko did come up here to do a raw foods seminar and there are people around. I was changing and no one around me was and my children are the most important thing to me and i will raise them with my values.

[GoingRAW]

Hi Todd,

My DH and I lived in NJ, just across the river from Manhattan (we could see the Empire State Building from our bedroom window). We then moved to Point Reyes Station, CA, Population 350. It was scary. We were laying in bed one night (it was very dark) and we heard something. It kind of startled us . . . it was a cow. It is so different from all the lights and horn honking we heard throught the night in NJ. LOL

<>< Helen of Tennessee

Helen,
What a small world, I lived in Pt Reyes, most of my life, up until 5 years ago. I always find it funny when you mention being from CA to out of staters and they assume either LA or somewhere on the beach. Little did they know that there are so many ranches out there....LOL

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Going RAW,

I lived in Petaluma for a short period then moved to Point Reyes Station (the Coast Guard Base). This was 1975-1978. It is so beautiful there. Just couldn't afford to live there once Bruce got out of the Coast Guard, so we moved back to Michigan where he had a job waiting for him. Now we're down in Tennessee and It's just as beautiful as Point Reyes :)

And yes, there sure is a lot of "country" there. Our town, at that time had 350 people. The next biggest town was Petaluma, which was 35 minutes away. I love the Red Wood forest I use to drive through to get to Marin College. Northern California is Beautiful and I do miss it.

So nice to meet you. Hope to see more posts from you.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Rawkinlocs]

WHOA Corky!! That's AWFUL what your cousin said...KILLING them??? Idiots??? Aww man that sucks! But your story sounds similar to mine. My inlaws are deadset against us homeschooling and think my children are disadvantaged for it. My sister-in-law told my dh that it was "too fanatical" when he told her we were just vegetarians...she doesn't know about raw and would REALLY think we've gone off the deep-end if she found out! She's very much "pro-going to the doctor for every little thing".

And like you, this time next year we will be over 2000 miles away in the beautiful Pacific NW (Washington to be exact) and I'll be so happy not only to get away from the negativity, but to also get out of this city we're in!

Gosia: I didn't want to hijack your thread without replying to your situation as well. I think it's really awful when you send your children away with specific instructions and they're totally dismissed and THEN, the parent made out to be the "bad guy". I see so many stories of black women who have little girls with "virgin" hair (never been chemically straightened) and then they visit grandmother or aunt, etc. and come home with straight hair.

I like what Todd said in that, if the relative can't abide, then the child will not be allowed to visit (without my dh or myself present). That's how I am now with my kids, especially after my mother in law told my 2 eldest children they're not smart and need to be in school! :mad:


Just reading through all these and have been through much of this myself. I even had a cousin tell me she could not talk to me anymore because i was vegan and 'killing' my children and homeschooling which would make them idiots. She couldn't take my lifestyle--yet she gave her children tbsp. of oil so they could go to the bathroom to get their food out they were so constipated from all the dairy they ate!--I wouldn't have believed it had i not been over that day to witness it! Oh and extra margarine to help as well! At the same time my sister stopped talking to me, my inlaws couldn't stand that we wouldn't eat bacon at the x'mas dinners etc etc. SO to answer something Alissa mentioned above as to how to deal with it-- I decided to up and move my family 1000miles away! I couldn't be happier not dealing with all that abuse--it wasn't just because of them--i was searching for a healthier place to live and i have found a place with many homeschoolers, veg. but no raw yet. Although Victoria Boutenko did come up here to do a raw foods seminar and there are people around. I was changing and no one around me was and my children are the most important thing to me and i will raise them with my values.

[Sweet lips]

This breaks my heart, that adults feel the need to tell children things that can damage them for life. I really believe in the saying, "you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family." The sad thing is that these negative, angry family members are all part of us - we have the same genetic make-up as our brother, sisters, moms and dads and have to recognize that as we get enlightened, as we grow, and as we ignore their negative thoughts, comments and actions, somewhere through the love that we have inside, they may be loved into change.

A few years ago before I started cleaning out those things that were holding me back, and realized that only I can only change me, I would have been ticked with my sister-in-law, now I can just laugh - here's the scoop, she has to tell people when we are at dinner. restaurant or family, as if I can no longer speak, or see, that I am a vegan and mostly raw. Not only that she enunciates each syllable, and while I may be selecting, she asks - can you have that, are you sure you should eat that, you don't want to get sick do you. I am now able to smile without gritting and baring my teeth, because that what she needs to do. I usually laugh out loud with my DH (it's his sister), and enjoy the company. I said all this to say, send them love, whether you see them or not, in your prayers, during meditation, in the air. We were once sick too. ;) and I still am in some things

Be blessed in your comings and your goings.

[corky]

Yes i guess we all have these stories--as Gosia said that 'our diet is weird'!! It can be so hurtful when friends and family judge so harshly. And then to get the authorities involved?? Where is the sanity?? My thoughts are really with you--I have been there!

Are you moving there Rawkinlocs? I hear you on the raw thing!! My family would really think I've gone loopy!! I also wanted to comment on Todd that that is so wonderful his children are growing up with such wonderful values and he is sticking to it no matter what. How do they deal with school food issues??

[Curtis]

After reading this thread my first thought was how in the world did we become so brainwashed to believe Macdonalds and using drugs are healthly choices? Amazing.

[SwishTN]

I am still trying to decide how/when/what about going raw, but, this issue is one that I have already addressed with my family, because I am pretty sure that whatever decisions I make, they will definitely be "counter culture" in reference to the rest of my family. I have already threatened my Mom that if she does not abide by my dietary choices, movie choices, etc, she will not see her grandchildren. She laughs, mostly because she knows that she will, and because she knows that I mean it : ). I also threatened to put her on the first plane out if she acted like my brother's mother in law did toward her daughter at his wedding, and again, she laughed, because she knew....(I am not engaged, nor do I have children, but I think of how I want to raise them, and even journal my dreams and desires for how they will be raised, sigh : ))
I will be praying that this thing subsides, and perhaps maybe those involved get a bit of revelation in the whole thing.
While I KNOW that going raw is the right thing, I am having such a difficult time taking the plunge, and am actually rebelling against it BIG TIME. I will post that somewhere else, though...
Anyway, prayers and blessings to you : ).
Lauri

[Curtis]

Lauri,
You might want to get Alissa's book and try some of the recipes before starting. This has helped me to make a gradual change over. Any changes one makes concerning the foods they eat will help them. :) I am not 100% raw yet but the closer I get the more I see myself eating like this the rest of my earthly life.
Prayers and blessings to you to Lauri :)

[GoingRAW]

Thanks Helen, it is nice to meet you as well.
My mom lives in Petaluma and I still visit as often as possible. I am in Colorado now and learning to love the mountains!! :)

[Gosia]

Thank you again everyone for their support. I really appreciate the fact that I can be so frank with you. This board is really a wonderful raw community.

We have not been contacted by the authorities yet. It seems that either Luke's sister did not go forward with finalizing her threats, or the authorities did not think that my children were at a high risk (and we could still receive a letter from them).

I have really mixed emotions about about this whole thing and, in particular, about how and whether at all I should let my daughter's auntie in our life again. On one hand, my daughter got quite attached to her and I used to think that it was good. On the other hand, she has decieved us, she has been hostile to us many times, including swearing at Luke and calling me names. I do understand that she has some emotional problems, but I do not feel that we deserve to be treated that way. In our last conversation I told her that if she wants this relationship, she must make an effort to treat us with respect. But is it possible? She thinks that we are freaks for not wanting to feed our daughter what we consider junk food (biscuits, fairy bread, chips, for example).

I believe that I should have the right to live my life this way and bring up my children to be vegetarian, or even raw foodists. I do not try to force others into my lifestyle and I respect their choices. I believe that I should be respected as well.

A friend of ours told us that the nature of a scorpion is to bite. So, you should not expect that you can pick it up and not get bitten. So I guess, I should not be so naive and expect that someone with a history of hostile behaviour towards others would treat us in a different way.

Now, something nice. Guess what, I met a raw foodist (at a meditation that I attend once a month)! Furthermore, I learned from her that there is a quite a big group of raw foodists here in Adelaide. I am loooking forward to meeting them so much!!! Having support from others has been so important for me.

Again, thank you very much.
Bless you all,
Gosia
:) :) :)