Carpenter ants, mice in the house. What to do, what to do. My husband and I don't always see eye to eye on this, but we're working on it. Last year we noticed a long line of ants marching right along the power line onto our house. Now if you are not familiar with carpenter ants, let me provide a short summary. They are the only ants that live up off of the ground, and while they don't "eat" wood, it is their habitat, which is created by chewing tunnels throughout it. Well I don't think much more explanation is required to demonstrate they aren't a good sign for wooden structures. As you may have already deduced, we're living a wooden home.

For my spouse, there was no question about what to do, but I still felt guilty. In the end though, we had to protect our home and used baits to rid our house of them. This was after completing extensive research on what was actually effective with this particular species of ants. Most places we consulted recommended spraying the entire house, and this didn't sit well with us. In the end, the baits worked and we did not need to spray everything in sight.

After that ordeal, we ran into yet another issue once fall came around. One of our adopted cats cornered a mouse. We caught it and relocated it to a nature center close to our house. We were hoping it wasn't a problem and a freak occurrence. Then our cat killed another one. Clearly it was more than happenstance.

First our goal was to control the mice without lethal means. We didn't catch anything with the live traps. Nada. Next we called out a company to help seal up the house, and used glue traps to catch the mice after a couple weeks on unsuccessful live trap testing. Then we checked the traps daily. Whenever we caught something, my brave and honorable spouse would use vegetable oil to get the poor mice off the traps, and then relocate them to a nature center by our house. This carried on for a couple weeks and then the mice stopped getting caught on the glue traps. Crap, what the hell were we supposed to do then?

In the end, we used lethal traps. I honestly feel terrible about it, but the other alternatives just weren't working. Our cats WERE NOT earning their keep darn it! All other options were exhausted. I think we both felt badly about it, but my spouse was a lot more freaked out about a mouse in the house. Our family has more of a role reversal going on with feelings on rodents. I think they are cute, but not in my house. They were pooping all over the place, could potentially spread disease to our family - especially the animal ones, and were chewing up stuff. My oldest cat actually caught a tape worm from killing a mouse at my parent's house a few years ago. Not a fun situation by any means. Just like with the ants, we were protecting our home and family. I know there are surely vegans out there who would condemn this, but I'm curious if that is the case, what would you recommend? What would you do?

Vegan Family Politics

As my children grow older, we begin to venture into the realm of vegan family politics. My eldest is beginning to notice he eats differently than other people. He attends an ECFE class as does his sister. They each have sibling care when the other is in class. There is typically a snack time, and goldfish crackers are a common selection by the school. I am not sure why these are so popular as they don't seem to be a healthy, wholesome snack regardless of not being vegan. We brought in Eco Planet Cheddar Non-Dairy crackers for them to eat at snack time. Today Elliott talked about his classmate friend having" fish" and that he did not eat fish. He loves the Eco Planet crackers, and for now is happy with this alternative. As peer acceptance becomes more of a priority we'll have to decide how to handle that.

The political aspect of family food choices is a challenge for me. While I feel strongly about following a vegan diet, I feel the same way about respecting other's choices. That doesn't mean I am against promoting a vegan lifestyle, I am all for it, but in a positive constructive way. When I first became a vegetarian, I remember being ostracized for eating dairy and eggs. It totally turned me off to the idea of abstaining from them, and only eventually made that choice after getting there on my own terms. For these reasons, I struggle with the best way to discuss other's eating meat and animal products in a way where my child will not feel superior to others. I absolutely loathe religion being shoved down my throat, and can't help but see some parallels between the two.

When we discuss it now, my explanation for eating the way we do is simple, keeping in mind the age of the audience. All we say, is that we do not eat those things because we do not have to. Elliott came up with his own explanation for why we don't eat meat, because "they would be sad." He was 32 months old when he determined this. It was interesting to witness the "ah-ha" moment of understanding what it means when people talk about eating chicken or turkey. There is no hiding what it comes from like cows or pigs. We had just seen wild turkeys at the nature center by our house, and at lunch I told him I was making a veggie turkey sandwich when he inquired. A quizzical look fell upon his face, and he asked about the turkey part. I assured him it was not actually from a turkey, and that is when he divulged the "it would make them sad" explanation. I guess I never thought about having this moment since we are vegan.

It is interesting to point out how completely comfortable others feel at questioning our decision to raise our kids vegan. I often wonder how well it would be appreciated it I did the same for religious beliefs someone was teaching their children, but I "do unto others as I would prefer them do to me." While veganism is not a religion, it is much more than a diet. It is more accurately described as a lifestyle, which follows compassion. This is clearly founded on moral beliefs, the same as religion, but most people do not seem to view it as such.

As veganism becomes more mainstream, I believe this will become less common. It is amazing to see how far things have come from when I first choose a vegan lifestyle over 10 years ago. For now I will try remain optimistic about what the future will bring in this regard, but like any other parents we are figuring it out as we go along.