Glue Sticks

[Laura]

My son is required to bring 2 glue sticks to school but he won't use anything that's not vegan. Does anyone know where we can find a vegan glue stick, or are they somehow different from regular glue and perhaps already vegan?

[Erin Pavlina]

Elmer's glue is supposedly vegan. I've contacted the company in the past and they say their glue is entirely synthetic, no animal products. I think it even says so on their website.

Do a search for their site. It's probably elmers.com or elmersglue.com or something like that. See if they make a glue stick. And be sure to report back to us so we all know!

[Laura]

Erin,
You're right! I found the website and they said they don't use animals at all. I just assumed it wasn't vegan since it's glue and the company has the head of a cow as their logo. That's good to know and will make our shopping a lot easier. Thanks so much--what a helpful website. I've only been on a day and I've already learned something new!

[Erin Pavlina]

Great. I'm glad I could help.

How old is your son? And what grade is he in?

[Laura]

He's 8 and going into second grade. He's also very vegan. It's hard for him because he's the only vegan in the school (that we know of). I take it you have kids? I haven't looked around the sight yet enough to have figured it out, maybe when I get some more time!

[Erin Pavlina]

Yes, please peruse the site at www.vegfamily.com/index.htm because we've got a lot of articles and reviews and information posted for parents with kids in that age group.

My daughter is currently 2 and a half years old. Such a handful! :)

Has your son been vegan his whole life? If not, how did you transition him? How does he feel being the only vegan in his school and how do you prepare him to handle all that?

[Laura]

He decided to become vegan when he was 6, a few months after I became vegan (after reading a brochure in a coffee shop). I didn't want to force my beliefs on him but I did educate him and he made up his mind on his own. He's very strict about it too. It's hard because I'm divorced (though we've both remarried) and when my son is with his dad's family they all tell him that being vegan isn't good and that he'll get really sick and die that he'd be stronger if he ate meat. Even though they live a block from a health food store that sells a lot of the vegan items my son likes they show no interest in going there to get them, so I always end up having to pack him snacks and he mostly won't eat over there. They don't respect or understand it at all, unfortunately. At school sometimes the other kids will wave their velveeta slices or bologna in his face. He's not real good about standing up for himself, though I'm hoping it'll get easier as he gets older.
Has your daughter been vegan from birth?

[Erin Pavlina]

Yes, Emily is vegan from birth. It's very easy now because being vegan is all she knows. It will be interesting to see what happens when she goes to school. But we should have a lot of time to prepare her.

Six years old and decided to go vegan huh? That's what I like ot hear! :) That's wonderful.

It's very hard when the other parent doesn't want to raise the child vegan. It's great that you pack him snacks. Woudl they be willing to house some of "his" food in their refrigerator for when he comes? Like I take some food each month to my parents house and stick it in their freezer so that when Emily is over there they dont' have to figure out what to feed her, they just take something from her private stash.

[capersmama]

Im sorry to read that your X's family says that trash to your son..although I am havign the exact same problem with my dh's family. They resented my being vegetarian from the start..but now REALLY resent ME for raising vegan kids and "turning" their son into a vegan.
I didnt start out raising my 1st 3 sons vegan..I was "out ruled" in that argument..my dh cowered to his parents arguments that the kids would not be healthy if they were w/o meat. But with the last my #4 son..<smiling> my dh made an about face when he was rudely made aware of how what you eat can affect you...
**short story coming....
When Caper (my #4) was 3-4 mos old(totally breastfed)..he began waking in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder and wouldnt stop until about 4-5 am. While online talking to Dr. Jay Gordon (www.drjaygordon.com) in his weekly chat..I asked him for his advice. He suggested my going dairy free (I was vegetarian ..still consuming dairy) and I argued and said it cant be that (my stupidity)..so he made "other suggestions". Week after week..I would go back in the chat and he would ask how Caper was doing..I would have ot say no better :-( Doc kept suggesting dairy free..needless to say..after about a mos. of my arguing and debating with doc online and depleting his suggestion resources..lol..one night he said..Alice...you obviously love your son..and are willing to do anything for you son..would you PLEASE do me a favor...give up dairy for 2 weeks. I think you will be surprised. Needless to say..I was very hesitant..but agreed. Mind you this child had been screaming nightly for about 4 hrs a night for 2-3 mos...after 24 hrs of my being dairy free..my child was sleeping through the night except to nurse. No more screams of pain like we had become accustomed to. He is now almost 3 yrs old..and still nursing..and we havent consumed any dairy and have had no problems. My dh was impressed!

Good luck with your battle with you X's family..its a tough road..but worth it for the health of your child..Im proud of you for sending foods and snacks for him. Keep it up :-)

[Laura]

That was a great story, and really shows how big a difference removing dairy can be! I had a funny experience this summer, I went with an 80 year old friend to Cleveland because he needed major heart surgery (3 new valves and a triple bypass) and he has no family. I've known him a long time and know that he eats eggs every morning for breakfast, tons of red meat and virtually no vegetables/fruit though I've told him time and again that's not the way to go. We ate together for several days before his surgery and he sat there complaining about my diet! I said "Fine, complain, but who here has the problem?" Anyway, to make a long story short, it was really major surgery and he almost died but now he's recovering and, of course, has gone back to his old diet. Even though I gave him lots of statistics it wasn't what he wanted to hear so he just dismissed it all. I don't know why I'm telling this story, I guess there are just some people that will always complain no matter what! I'm glad that my son just doesn't listen to anyone's complaining.