advertisement
-
We're on a camel!
I love animals. I love the little furry ones, and the tiny feathered ones, and the growly ones, and the big leathery ones. All of them. I used to volunteer at a pet adoption and animal rescue once upon a time, which is where my animal rights activism really thrived. I was a vegetarian for the longest time because of my affinity for the little creatures. (Why I eat meat now is something saved for a different blog. Moving on...)
The Kansas City Renaissance Festival started this weekend. Marc and I have been looking forward to it for a year! Diane, my mother-in-law, came down from Des Moines and the two of us took Marc and Charlotte. Marc dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda, complete with sword and shield. We had turkey legs, of course. We watched a magic show and went on a search for fairies and princesses.
Then we happened upon some rides. Did you know they have live camels and a live elephant that you can ride at the RenFest? They have them every year. The animal rights activist in me weeps every time I see them.
They don't look particularly happy. They look kind of broken. But then, I don't know what a happy camel looks like. Do you? I don't suppose they smile, do they? But I always feel really weird when I see them, with little kids riding on their backs and being led around by these emotionless men.
"I want to ride the elephant," Marc says every year. I thought he'd be over it by this year, but the question inevitably presented itself. He wanted to ride the elephant.
"But, but I have principles!" I always want to say. "Those animals don't want you to ride them! Look at how unhappy they are! Look at how they're treated! Would you want to be ridden around all day long by tourists? Poor things!"
But I couldn't say that. That'd be even more cruel. He's just a little boy, and even though we talk about animal rights all the time, I just couldn't tell him no. I mean, have you seen him? He's so cute!
This is why we don't go to the circus or ride the carriages on the Plaza. My vegan friends are totally hating me right now, I'm sure.
So, I grabbed Marc, then Charlotte, and we hopped on the camel. The elephant line was way too long. The emotionless man led the camel around with us on top for about about a minute and a half. Then it was all over.
Does the camel like doing that? I have no way of knowing. I'm not the camel whisperer. But it happened, and now it's over. My boy was pleased, my girl was delighted, and I admit it was kind of fun. I still have principles, though. Make no mistake!
After that we shopped around, Marc got himself a bow and arrow to complete his costume, we watched the joust, and Charlotte got the sweetest peasant girl dress. We ran into some friends near the end, which made it even better. All in all I'd say it was a fine day out.
But I'm left with questions: How do you pass your principles on to your children without compromising their childhood? How many years can I let them ride on the camel before I tell them about the mistreatment of show animals? Not only that, but how do I even know those animals were mistreated?
I guess I'll just do what any good parent does. I'll figure it out as I go along!
Huzzah!
I have the same struggles. I want my kids to experience things from different cultures, etc. but at what cost? So many times I wish I could go back to the time where I had no clue about animal rights, organic vs conventional foods, naturopathic vs allopathic medicine, etc. It's exhausting holding on to principles! And sometimes I cave, too, including a camel ride.I support animal welfare, not animal rights. Animal rights = no interaction between humans and non-human animals, no using animals for anything even if they are kept happy and alive (no eggs, no wool, etc., even if you raise it yourself), and has an overall goal of the extinction of domestic animals Animal welfare = treat animals humanely, do not abuse/neglect animals, if animals are killed for food do it as quickly and painlessly as possible, humans and non-human animals co-exist and interact. And please do not assume all animals in situations such as the camel are mistreated. Most are treated well, a few bad apples give everyone a bad name. Saying all these animals are abused is like saying all farm animals are abused. Or all children are abused. What makes the news are the bad situations, not the good ones.I don't like it either! My dd has never been to the circus and we don't ride animals. Not horses, not camels, not elephants. IMO they aren't to be used for our pleasure and I pass that on to my daughter. I don't feel that she's missing out on anything by not riding animals and not watching them be completely dominated by people. It completely grosses me out to see them treated like crap.
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagsmotherhood (12)
school (10)
family (9)
parenting (7)
growing up (6)
fibromyalgia (5)
birthday (4)
bullies (4)
kids (4)
toddlers (4)
anxiety (3)
divorce (3)
normal (3)
stress (3)
video games (3)
accident (2)
awesome (2)
baseball (2)
brother (2)
children (2)
christmas (2)
chronic illness (2)
death (2)
er (2)
hair (2)
holidays (2)
life (2)
love (2)
money (2)
news (2)
nintendo (2)
obama (2)
presents (2)
recycling (2)
religion (2)
siblings (2)
sick (2)
son (2)
taxes (2)
tradition (2)
unemployment (2)
valentine (2)
writing (2)
9/11 (1)
acting (1)
adrenal insufficiency (1)
adult (1)
advice (1)
afentra (1)
affirmation (1)
alone (1)
american (1)
animal control (1)
animal rights (1)
april fools (1)
attacks (1)
aunt (1)
babies (1)
babysitting (1)
backyard (1)
bad day (1)
bedtime (1)
bin laden (1)
bionicle (1)
birth (1)
body (1)
bonding (1)
brothers (1)
busy mom (1)
calm (1)
car (1)
car theft (1)
car trouble (1)
carnival (1)
casey anthony (1)
caterpillars (1)
cel phone (1)
celebration (1)
celebrities (1)
changes (1)
charity (1)
chicken (1)
classroom (1)
cleanliness (1)
clothes (1)
clothing (1)
clutter (1)
co parenting (1)
co sleeping (1)
comicon (1)
community (1)
competition (1)
confession (1)
dad (1)
dating (1)
daughter (1)
dead animal (1)
deals (1)
debate (1)
debt (1)
decisions (1)
decorations (1)
depression (1)
diapers (1)
dinner (1)
disconnect (1)
diverticulitis (1)
doctor (1)
doctor who (1)
doctors (1)
dollhouse (1)
drama (1)
ds (1)
easter (1)
education (1)
election (1)
employment (1)
espresso (1)
facebook (1)
families (1)
family bed (1)
fantasy (1)
faq (1)
fat (1)
fears (1)
feminism (1)
fever (1)
fifth grade (1)
filing (1)
finances (1)
first (1)
friend (1)
fun (1)
gay (1)
gay marriage (1)
geek (1)
global (1)
goals (1)
god (1)
good moms (1)
goodbye (1)
grades (1)
graffiti (1)
gratitude (1)
groceries (1)
grown-up (1)
guns (1)
haircut (1)
halloween (1)
handmade (1)
happiness (1)
happy thoughts (1)
hard times (1)
hate (1)
high school (1)
hip (1)
holiday (1)
home (1)
home alone (1)
honesty (1)
hunger (1)
hurricane (1)
internet (1)
interviews (1)
jobs (1)
joke (1)
joplin (1)
judgement (1)
karma (1)
kcmo (1)
lake (1)
lawyers (1)
lgbtq (1)
liberal (1)
libya (1)
louisburg (1)
mini van (1)
miniature (1)
minimalism (1)
moderation (1)
momless (1)
montessori (1)
motehrhood (1)
museum (1)
nag (1)
nanowrimo (1)
neighbors (1)
new car (1)
new year (1)
new york (1)
newtown (1)
nothing (1)
novel (1)
obsession (1)
occupy wall street (1)
occupykc (1)
ogres (1)
older (1)
organizing (1)
ozarks (1)
paintball (1)
paranoia (1)
parking lot (1)
pasta (1)
peaceful (1)
pee (1)
pencils (1)
permission (1)
perspective (1)
persuasive (1)
politics (1)
positivity (1)
potty training (1)
poverty (1)
practical (1)
prayer (1)
president (1)
principles (1)
prison (1)
puberty (1)
public (1)
pumpkin patch (1)
questions (1)
raccoon (1)
radio (1)
rage (1)
rainbow (1)
real life (1)
recipe (1)
remembering (1)
renaissance festival (1)
resolutions (1)
restaurants (1)
roller coaster (1)
romney (1)
router (1)
royals (1)
sadness (1)
sahm (1)
salesmen (1)
sandwich (1)
sandy (1)
sauce (1)
self esteem (1)
serotonin (1)
sharing (1)
shooting (1)
shopping (1)
single (1)
sister (1)
sleep (1)
slumber party (1)
spaghetti (1)
sports (1)
spring (1)
spring break (1)
spying (1)
star trek (1)
star wars (1)
state fair (1)
storm (1)
style (1)
super mom (1)
superheroes (1)
tantrums (1)
teachers (1)
teaching (1)
teasing (1)
temperance (1)
ten (1)
texting (1)
thanksgiving (1)
threats (1)
three (1)
tiger mom (1)
time (1)
tired (1)
toddler (1)
tornado (1)
trash (1)
tv (1)
vacation (1)
vacuum cleaner (1)
video (1)
violin (1)
visit (1)
voting (1)
war (1)
warming (1)
wifi (1)
wohm (1)
women (1)
wow (1)
zelda (1)
zen (1)