Do I worry about my vegan child feeling like they're missing out?

Do vegan children 'miss out' because they might not be able to eat a friend's birthday cake at a party?

Here's my original post; https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcO2hefMAmd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

“Do I worry about my vegan child feeling like they’re missing out?  Welcome back to my Wednesday thoughts!

Do I worry about my child feeling like he’s missing out, especially at things like friends’ parties when he might not be able to eat the birthday cake?  My little one is only three, but we’ve already navigated a lot of parties. His social life is much better than mine!  He knows that we’re vegan and that we don’t eat anything with animal products in, so he’s very accepting that not everything is going to be something he can eat.

I try to be as proactive as possible, so I’ll message the parent before parties and ask if I should bring something for him or whether there’ll be anything suitable there.  And I make sure we always have a supply of vegan cake in the freezer and some sweets in the cupboard, so we can just grab something whenever we need it.

I know he’s only young, so there may well be more questions as he gets older, but I actually think children are much more aware and accepting of different diets than we sometimes give them credit for.  He already knows that his grandma can’t eat things with gluten in, and he sees his friends eating different foods all the time because of allergies, intolerances or dietary choices.  So, to him, I think it’s just normal that different people eat different things.

I think that’s an important distinction too.  If he had a dairy or egg allergy, we wouldn’t really question whether he was ‘missing out’ because he couldn’t eat the birthday cake.

Veganism is a choice, but that doesn’t make his experience of being included any less important.  For me, it’s less about making sure he eats exactly the same thing as everyone else and more about making sure he gets to be part of the experience.

Obviously, he’s only three, so I’m sure there’ll be more questions to navigate as he gets older, but at the moment, no, I don’t really worry about him feeling like he’s missing out and I think a lot of it comes down to how you approach it and making sure they feel included rather than focusing on what they can’t have.”