Catching Fish

Where did my daughter learn to "catch fish"?

She had a cat toy the other day that is a stick with a toy on a string, and she told me she was catching fish to eat!  I reminded her when we saw people fishing, how they were hurting the fish.  I told her how they catch the fish by putting a hook through their lip.  Ouch.  Then we caught nori and ate it because that's in the ocean too, and we love to eat nori!

Then, a couple days later, we were driving to the greenhouse for a picnic in the tropics (since there's snow and cold outside).  I told her that there were going to be pretty fish to see (there's a koi pond in the greenhouse).  Again, she said she was going to catch the fish.  I told her we don't eat fish, or catch them.  She asked if her friend eats fish... and I answered honestly that she does.

"I will catch a fish for J and she can eat it!"

Hmmm...  I talked again about how catching fish hurts them, eating an animal means it dies, and that we don't do that.  Once she saw the fish she had no interest in hurting or eating them.

I think she's working through the disconnect between her friends who eat animals and the fact that she doesn't... and why.  It's going to get a lot harder before it gets easier.