I thought my child was a picky eater until I spoke with an acquaintance of mine who informed me that her child Ryan, age four will only eat ice cubes and drink apple juice. Talk about picky! I thought I had it bad.

After all, my youngest daughter, age five will eat only a handful of things, all of which include crackers, cheese, peanut butter and crackers and occasionally chicken nuggets. Needless to say my definition of picky wavered a little.

Okay, so what child isnt a little picky? When, as parents should we be concerned with our childs eating habits? I have heard that as long as kids are eating at least something, taking the right vitamins and getting the proper exercise that they should be fine. I am in no way, shape or form a nutritionist or for that matter a pediatrician, but as a mom that just doesnt seem to cut it.

If this is true, then why do my daughters eating habits bother me so? Perhaps the real agitation stems from my own child-hood meal time memories. Growing up, there were only two things I recall not liking; squash and corn. I would hardly call that picky. In fact, I remember loving most food from the get go. Maybe I just cant relate to my youngsters finicky nature. And, despite my best efforts, getting her to try anything new is a nightmare.

I gently coax her by saying, Please just try it. Of course those words are spoken in vain and to no avail. One would think that over time a moms resolve would falter and all requests would become futile - her childs nos become screams in seemingly never-ending tantrums that more often than not result in thrown food, filthy tiny hands and small battles of food fighting.

But no, my resolve remains strong. My determination as a mother and wanna-be nutritionist does not waiver.

As a mom it will remain my job to continue to encourage her to at least try new foods, even if the first few thousand requests fail.