Telha
Despite his wife’s unwavering commitment to their family’s meat-free lifestyle, he found himself unable to resist the allure of forbidden flavors. Hidden from view, his secret indulgences became a quiet rebellion against the strict dietary rules he felt had been imposed on him.
He shared his side of the story:
“I want to start by saying I (38M) love my family and wife (35F), and I have never been the type to do anything like this before. Twelve months ago, my wife gave up eating meat. The whole family (me and our two young boys) were supportive of this, and we held a vegetarian-only dinner that night as a little sign of support.
Life continued for another eight months with little change; the boys and I still ate meat, while my wife didn’t. However, things started to shift around the 8-10 month mark (I can’t remember exactly). Along with not eating meat, my wife no longer wanted to be around it. And that wasn’t the only change. Over time, my wife began replacing items in the house with alternatives.
First, the pork was swapped out for jackfruit, eggs were replaced with substitutes like Just Egg, shirts were only purchased from eco-friendly brands like Plant Faced Clothing, and deodorants were switched to deodorant pills like GoScentless. You get the idea.
To say this created tension would be an understatement. Eventually, I brought up to my wife that while we fully supported her decisions, I didn’t think it should change things for the boys and me—unless, of course, they wanted it. My wife argued that her values had evolved and that being around these things was really difficult for her. She wanted us to support her.
For the next two to three months, our home became a place of significant tension. It had gotten so bad that the boys had friends bringing them meat from their homes since it was now completely absent from ours.
About a week ago, my wife went on a business trip for a few days, leaving me in charge of the boys from Thursday through Saturday. I’m a bit ashamed to admit this, but we ate meat whenever we could. The boys and I had a great time—until my wife returned and somehow found out what we’d been up to. I’ve never seen her so disappointed in us.
After putting the boys to bed, we argued for hours about how I was setting a bad example for them and that I should respect the decisions my wife had made, even if they were ‘tough’ and ‘inconvenient.’ It’s hard to argue because I can see her perspective, but it all boils down to the fact that I don’t want to be vegetarian or vegan, and neither do the boys.”
Many people sided with him:
- “She said she got rid of it because she couldn’t be around it… well, she wasn’t around it.” WaryScientist / Reddit
- “Your wife is the bad guy for FORCING her family to follow the same beliefs as she does. You can’t control what other people do around you. This should be a unanimous decision between the two of you, and your kids are old enough to choose for themselves.” Infinite-Chapter2652 / Reddit
- “Her diet, her choice. Your diet, your choice. She is quite within her rights not to cook meat if she doesn’t want to, BUT SHE HAS NO RIGHT to dictate your opinions.” EvilBeasty / Reddit
- “It’s funny how you haven’t told her to stop her eating choices, but she is quick to tell you to stop yours. Your wife is manipulating your good-guy nature to guilt you into a choice you didn’t make. She is 100% wrong for that.
You need to take a harder stance and let her know this ’support’ she wants comes with a cost. Her forcing her choices on all of you will result in respect being lost. In the end, people can’t live unhappily. They will remove what makes them unhappy at some point.” yakkerswasneverhere / Reddit - “This woman’s opinion on meat is causing her children to hide/sneak food. That is going to result in her children having an unhealthy relationship with food. That is going to result in soooo many other issues.” neongrey_ / Reddit
- “Why do you have to respect the decisions that she makes when she has no respect for the decisions that you make? You and your children need to have a say in your lifestyles. One person doesn’t get to make unilateral decisions for everyone.” Sailor_Chibi / Reddit
In the end, his secret indulgences led to a deeper understanding of both himself and the dynamics within his family. His secret may have been about food, but the lesson was about trust and finding balance in a shared life.
Preview photo credit Total-Dingo5709 / Reddit
