This is incredibly annoying. I struggled so hard with my kids to get them to eat anything more than a handful of foods. Produce or anything healthy? Forget it. Everything was a drama, especially with my oldest. Mealtimes were long and filled with tears (sometimes mine). We sought therapy. I had one friend who is big on family rules and whose kids ate everything and implied that the problem was that I just didn't *enforce* things enough....sigh. I probably would have lost it had a childless friend or relative sent me that stuff.

I'm not sure how, but my older one expanded her palate in the teen years and now has a beautiful, varied diet filled with healthy foods. And my younger one did the same in college. I would have kissed the ground and given all the money I had for them to eat like this when they were young. Hang in there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds very annoying. I have 2 kids with Crohn's and have family members who give me all kinds of advice about my kids' medical care when they know nothing about it.

One thing you may want to consider is not sharing anything with your MIL so she can't share anything with the family. The less they all know, the less they have to comment on.

Why would you cut off any source of information that could help your kids? You don’t have to follow it, but believing that your medical practice has all of the answers or scours emerging research is naive. I would absolutely forward new research to a family member if I thought it could be helpful, because you know, I love them.

I am pretty sure that what's she's sending is not "new research".

They're family. They have a right to chime in about their actual relative -- your child. Why don't you try not to let it bother you? (I have a picky eater and it drives me insane. I know how you feel.)

Anonymous wrote:Would you be more receptive to the article if she was married and had kids?

Sounds like the obnoxious judgemental attitude comes from both sides of the aisle.

I, personally, would certainly be more likely to look seriously at parenting advice if someone with children sent me something, as opposed to a childless individual passing on J. Random Contentfarmer's oeuvre. Especially if the person had passed on similar genetics to me and/or had a large number of kids.

Anyway, mostly I nod and smile. And possibly lol internally; there are a lot of well-meaning, inexperienced people whose plans will not survive contact with ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶n̶e̶m̶y̶-̶ flesh and blood toddlers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You sound too sensitive. They're only trying to help think about their intentions before you get all pissed off over nothing.

This is not a one time thing. Her intention is to hint that we are to blame and that our child would magically eat every veggie if we never allowed junk food and had family meals together everyday. Yes, that is her intention. It is a sensitive topic bc it causes me so much stress.

OP, I strongly recommend therapy for you so you can allow this kind of stuff to slide like water off a duck's back. You should not be stressed out by what your SIL thinks. Truly. I hope you're able to find peace.