Sometimes people need to keep their opinions to themselves

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Today I taught my son to make steak, and it reminded me of how far we have come. When my son was little, he would eat almost anything put in front of him (except ironically pizza), then around four, he became really picky. We tried everything to get him to eat some things. His doctor wasn't concerned because, despite being picky, he still ate a lot of fruits and vegetables and was still growing the way he needed to. We soon started noticing it wasn't just that he was picky, but he had texture issues. He would literally starve before eating some things. We started a one-bite rule. He had to at least try something before saying he didn't like it. There were foods he'd gag on. He just couldn't handle the texture of some foods. Later, he was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. Textures were such a big issue with him. I had people tell me that they made their kids eat what they made, no exceptions. I thought to myself, well, good for you, but you can't do that to kids who have genuine issues around food. They tried to make me feel like a bad parent because I didn't do things the way they did, and that I was babying him, as if by making him meals, he would eat, so he was nourished, was somehow me creating some form of entitlement, as if by doing this, it somehow personally hurt them. I don't understand the need to make everyone agree with you. Someone does something differently from you, so you must then get mean about it. It baffled me. I have news for them today: my child does, in fact, eat everything I make. Sometimes, he'll pick things he doesn't like out of it, but he'll eat it. My pizza-hating kid now actually loves pizza. I didn't bully him into eating things he didn't like; I made things he'd eat and offered him foods I knew he didn't like. I asked him to try something before saying he didn't like it. Eventually, he started eating more and more foods, and I didn't have to force it on him. I didn't say well, if you don't eat this, you aren't going to get anything else. I offered choices, and I worked on him with textures. Sure, there are still foods he doesn't like, but that's almost everyone. When you have a child with genuine issues, you can't simply say guess what? I don't care, you're going to eat it or starve. You work to slowly add more foods to their diet and work with them. Now my 15-year-old not only eats everything I make, but he has also started learning to cook for himself. Everyone would tell me if I didn't force him to eat what I made, he'd grow into a picky adult, and he's not even a picky teen. People need to stop telling others how to raise their children, as if it were personally victimizing them, unless it's something that is in fact genuinely hurting them, like talking down to their child, otherwise get over it. I don't agree with a lot of people's parenting, but I move on with my day, because you have no clue how that child will turn out. As long as they aren't abusing the kid or having to deal with that kid on a regular basis, it isn't your concern. You can offer advice in a polite and kind way, but make it clear they don't have to take it, but to just be rude about it seems insane to me. There are parents who send their kids out into the world to torment others, and that's a different story. If I have to personally deal with your terrible parenting, then maybe there should be a talk. I'm talking about parents who don't watch their kids, so they are going out and bullying and hurting other children; that is different.