I have been dealing with a LOT lately, and out of the blue, my neighbor calls me over and confronts me with how I am basically a bad mother! I am a loving, nurturing mom who shows love and affection to my little girl....and although I love my friend, I would not want to live in her house with all the yelling and intimidation. My daughter is even scared of her.

Anyway, my daughter now has a stomach bug - fever, stomach pain, vomiting, lethargy. It's what I had not long ago and still can't shake. No big deal. Get plenty of rest, drink Gatorade.

My neighbor decides to choose THIS time - while I am trying to care for my sick daughter, am going through extreme marital turmoil, and just had a massive layoff at work last week and I now report to a man who has basically hated me for the last 9 years....to tell me that the reason my daughter is sick is because of her picky eating habits.

My daughter will not touch a fruit or vegetable...it's a major ordeal each and every time. I agree that I gave up on trying too soon and do need to get back on track with having her try new and different things....BUT, my neighbor went ON and ON and ON about how I need to be MEAN about it, force my child to eat what I say she is to eat....that she is a candidate for this disease and that disease....that I am trying to be her friend and not a mother....that she's known a lot of moms that coddle their only children but none like me. And she said it all with such a demanding tone.

I felt like I had to justify every little thing - like the fact that although she is indeed a picky eater, I try to make sure that we surround her with the healthier choices of the foods she does eat....like peanut butter on whole grain bread, gogurts, cheerios and other healthy cereals, etc....and that we do not keep a lot of the junkier stuff in the house because of the fact that she does not eat healthy.

I know I'm rambling, but I am just so upset by all this. I tried to stay calm and said, "I appreciate your insight, you've made your point"......when I walked away from there, I was mortified!

Anyway, my point......how do you start "all over again" with trying to get a nearly 8 year old to start to try new, healthier foods?