My daughter has formed a friendship with a neighbour's child which I think is toxic.
I walk her daughter to school everyday and collect to help my neighbour out but my daughter is becoming increasingly uncomfortable around the girl.
Her friend has body issues and I believe an eating disorder. She has a very narrow range of foods she will eat and then minuscule amounts of them. She is underweight and fills up on sweets because there is an open cupboard policy in her house. My daughter has asked how she manages to eat so much junk and still be thin and I had to explain about visceral fat. I mentioned how the focus should be on health and that your body should be nourished to enjoy life. It's really horrible though that I should have to go down this route.
She has now started commenting on my daughter's weight as well as other perfectly healthy girls in the class. She seems to have developed a bit of an obsessive interest in my daughter too. She claims they are twins, copies all her work, is constantly trying to come over to play and yet makes derogatory remarks about my daughter's looks and clothes.
My daughter isn't interested in clothes or fashion and finds all that stuff boring. She is interested in the world and experiencing stuff to put it in a nutshell. However, this girl is really starting to get to her and she is uncomfortable with the focus.
This situation has not been helped by the fact my daughter passed a test which she didn't. She has now started telling my daughter that she isn't smart and that she should have passed instead. It's all very wearing.
I know the child is unhappy and have explained this as gently as I can to my child but on the other hand I don't want my daughter experiencing the fallout constantly.
So what would you do? Speak to her mother? Have a chat with the teacher? Make an excuse as to why I can't walk her (hard)? Or just let my child navigate her way around this?
TIA.