Why does the pig eat tofu? why not corn? or rice?

I thought it would be appropriate for me to explain the meaning behind my blog title. Afterall, it does have a nice little story to it. In the Summer of 2009 I had found out I was accepted into the Public Health program at NYU. To help save some money, and continue paying my nyc rent (which is a whole other blog) I took a full time nanny job on the upper west side. Ah, the nanny job. What young girl in manhattan, in school, doesnt take this job at least once? Well, maybe the ones who grew up here. But the rest of us rent paying students dive into these jobs and practically race each other to the craigslists ads each morning. They really can be perfect, if you are working for the right family (which I was). Sure, you deal with screaming children, histerical fits, and strollers that weigh twice your own body weight. On the contrary, I spent my summer with three children who were just so darn cute, and I was able to take them to central park, the childrens museum of manhattan, the zoo, you name it! We rode bikes, did the swings, ate strawberries on a picnic blanket. Even better, was that the mother is a vegan. A vegan mom raising her three children vegetarian. Perhaps this is why I initially got the job. It was convenient when the children would ask me if I ate meat and I was able to honestly reply "no". The oldest one who was 5, was already explaining to children at school why it is nicer to eat veggies only, and how we (the vegetarians) save animals. While I did laugh pretty hard at the thought of a 5 year old advocate, we explained to him the importance of not telling others what to do, and taking caution in how you approach certain subjects. Could you imagine the phone calls from other meat eating parents???

It was the little one though, who is responsible for this title. When I took her bare feet one day and sung the song my mom always sang to me, "this little piggie went to market, this little piggie stayed home. this little piggie had...." (my mom always said Roast Beef, as im sure 89% of Americans still sing, but I had different plans for my little veggie head) ...tofu! and this little piggie had none. And this little piggie cried weee wee wee all the way home!" At that moment her mom popped in from around the kitchen and said "thats so funny! thats what I sing to them too!" Well it was official. The piggies in that upper west side apartment were eating tofu. And edamame, carrots, broccoli, corn, blueberries, & everything else that could feed your soul and nourish a growing child. Little Lucie, thank you for your teeny toes & inspiring me to eat so many different vegetables that summer besides the well known celery stick and ear of corn. All three of those children taught me a great amount about the kind of mother I would like to be one day.