Chicken Joy

Arrgh… I’m presently tearing at my hair. Well, figuratively that is. Someone selling “health” magazines just came in here at the office. Without my knowing it (as I was busy making a report at my cubicle), my officemates pointed him to my direction – There’s that vegetarian girl over at that booth. But being “short-of-cash” these days, I had to turn my back at a magazine I liked. It was quite expensive and the seller won’t give me a discount. I’ll be traveling again tomorrow and I need to have enough money with me to make me feel secure.

A few years back, a similar thing had happened and I had bought a magazine from the seller then. It was the same one I’ve been wanting to buy ever since I saw it lying at the BK House’s coffee table. It talked of the benefits of the vegetarian diet and featured some recipes. Hmm… now I’m wondering where that magazine is now. I haven’t seen it lying around in ages. Anyway, I truly found the magazine helpful and for a while I’ve been tossing it at relatives who had been teasing me about going vegetarian. That was then. At this time, they have totally accepted my choice – make that “our” choice, now with B in the picture. Now, every family get-togethers feature meat and vegetarian dishes to satisfy everyone. Lately, cousins had been asking too whether Baby would also be a vegetarian. At our nod of assent, they would immediately throw baby a pitiful look and say: “Kawawa naman (How pitiful). He would grow up not enjoying ‘Chicken Joy’ then.” I would always quip, “Well, he could always have the french fries and sundaes.”

But I do get my family’s point. In truth really, I’ll be playing it by ear. Of course I wouldn’t force a two or three-year-old toddler to throw away a full-of-grease-leg-of-a-chicken (I’m really just teasing you meat-eater friends hehehe) should he wants to take a bite at it. By then, Baby Bullets would have his preferences and I’m not so sure if I could deprive him in that sense. Deep inside though, I want him to grow up vegetarian. I have friends who were vegetarian since birth since they belong to a family of one. But in my family with extended lola’s and tita’s and tito’s who loves food so much, I guess that would be close to impossible. I would have to find a perfect balance wherein I could impress upon Baby the value of the “discipline” and at the same time not have him feeling so deprived he’ll grow up to be a Klepto-maniac hehehe I couldn’t have him wondering why his cousins can gobble up a piece of meat but he couldn’t. And there will come a time that he’ll be going to school too. He’ll have classmates then who wouldn’t be vegetarians and we couldn’t be with him 24/7.

I’m remembering a scene at lunch earlier. My cute niece Janine offered me chicken. She practically grew up with me and so is used to eating vegetables too. She’s the only two year old I know who enjoys eating her vegetables. But being a kid, she likes to eat meat too and practically devours lechon when there is one. When I lightly refused her offer she turned to me and said, “Masarap man ang chicken tita.”which made me laugh. I am wondering if there would come a time when Baby would be delivering the same line to me. I am looking forward to that day.

I’ll be crossing the bridge when I finally get there. When it comes to feeding Baby with meat or not, I’ll think about it when the situation finally confronts me. I’m thinking now, he could eat meat if he wants to but for sure, I’d still be serving vegetables in our own household. Should he ask me to cook him a chicken dish, I’d probably just buy one outside hehehe. Most likely it would be Jollibee since it is “Halal” certified :)