Mummy, how do fish get from swimming to being eaten by me?

[Olive]

this was a question my 4.5yr old asked tonight whilst eating fish and chips.
How do i reply? i certainly dont wamy to use the word kill, so how else can i explain??

[Rouge]

We explained it as they are grown on a farm/caught etc and when they die (don't say how) they sell them to the supermarkets to eat.

I have since explained to both DS 5 and DD9 though.

They actually taught DD9 at Kinder on an excursion.

[nothing2lose]

Because they are such kind little fishies they volunteer themselves to jump into batter then the hot oil just so you (DD) can have yummy fish and chips???

Nah....maybe not!

How about (and it is a little lie) there are so many fish in the ocean, to make sure there is room enough for them, fisherpeople go out and boats and bring them back and give them to the fish and chip shop....???

[~me~]

I would explain it as clear as you can, as in the food chain. I always tell my kids where their food comes from, it's up to them if to eat or not too.
It's a bit like the nursery rhyme..there was an old woman who swallowed a fly
Have you ever taken DD fishing? That would be a good start
So many cultures have to live off the land to survive, that is another to way to explain it.

[PumpkinZulu]

A fisherman goes out to sea in a big boat, catches all the fish and bring them back to shore to be all cooked up? Dunno, but it's a great (albeit kind of difficult) question on your DD's part

[Aligater]

My 3.5 year old knows as DH goes fishing and brings them home in a bucket sometime still swiming. She has watched him kill and filet fish and is more likely to eat 'daddy caught' ones than shop ones

[Olive]

aarrhhhhh this is so hard i think if i told her they were killed shed freak abit, and with inlaws dog being put down last week (she understands animals dying) i hope when i say they die she doesnt confuse pets dying and other animals being killed for us to eat.
oh and i have to give her an answer tomorrow as i told her id find the answer for her tonight... (she asked me if id find the answer on the computer )

[nothing2lose]

I've just thought of the perfect answer...............!!!


"Ask your father!"

[Olive]

[Junglemum]

Lucky she didn't ask me?! I guess living on a farm life and death is viewed a little differently at our place.
I just tell the truth. The girls have both been fishing and seen a fish caught, killed and then eaten for dinner. Maybe the excitement helped but killing the fish wasn't a big issue.

I think a lot of her reaction to the answer is a direct response from your emotions. If you find it upsetting and its a big deal to you then she will pick up on that. If the answer comes back as more a fact of life and not a big deal then she might not be as upset. Works with my girl anyway. If I think she's going to be upset and go in ready to pick up the pieces she generally does get upset. if I tall about something in a factual way and try not up slant it with my emotions her response is generally better.

[Jellybean29]

I've been reading Jacob the Tawny Scrawny Lion, he's only 11 weeks, but thats all about a Lion eating animals for his dinner :P
Maybe you can read a book like that and then explain that we hunt and eat animals like fish too

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

"I Really Want To Eat A Child" is a great book from that PoV too - about a little crocodile called Archilles who wants to eat a child. DS loves that.

[Babyluv]

Haaha Epacris that's made my night what a funny little bloke!!!

[Nai]

I'm vegetarian so I told dd1 exactly where the meat came from straight up , unfortunately she didn't share my pint of view. She licks her lips and says "mmm Bacon" when she sees pigs

Maybe she should meet your son, epacris - like minds....

[nothing2lose]

Maybe she should meet your son, epacris - like minds....

Please keep these two faaaar away from each other!!!!

[Epacris]

Maybe she should meet your son, epacris - like minds....

Look out world....

[LaDolceVita]

I like N2L's second explanation about the too many fish in the sea story..

My DS refuses to call Chickens by their name and instead points at them and exclaims "Yummy!!" The lady who ran the petting zoo was not so amused...


Sent from my iPhone

[krysalyss]

OMG I love some of these replies. They are hilarious! We are also vegetarian and so told DS about the meat food chain a long time ago as we lived with meat eaters. I am also a wildlife biologist so he is aware of other animals eating meat etc. He went through a stage of telling people he was a meat eater too although he never asked to eat it. But now he is happy to be vegetarian. I would just tell them the basic straightforward truth without too much detail and leave it up to them to process it. We never pushed it a lot with DS - just explained why we (as in DH &I) chose to be vegetarian, we never said DS HAD to be. Regardless of how they feel for a little while, they will usually pick up your eating habits. You may get more questions of why you choose to eat them, and just answer them as honestly and simply as you can. Hope this helps