Giving family members advice

tmccool

I don't know when it happened, but my sister now chews with her mouth wide open. I wouldn't notice it as much but she makes this atrocious sound when she does it. It happens when she eats any food... cookies, dinner, whatever. The sound she makes whenever she chews just completely grosses me out. She also makes the same sound when she chews on her fingernails. I wouldn't care about that either, but it gets to me.

Is there a way to tell her not to chew with her mouth open without completely offending her? Whenever my mom tells her not to chew her fingernails, she pretty much freaks out, so I'm sort of hesitant in saying something. Not only does it bother me, but apparently someone at college pointed out how she chew with her mouth open, and she got hurt by it. I want to tell her that if she only closed her mouth, people wouldn't notice. I feel like if she doesn't stop now, then she never will, and she'll end up chewing with her mouth open at some important dinner, or during a business lunch, or something like that. My parents stress learning good manners for occasions like this, so I feel like I should tell her. Or, am I being a dick by pointing this out?

Slagmire

It's a bad habit, that's for sure, and if it's been brought up by someone outside of your family, then I think it's fair game.

Pull her to the side, tell her about it, ask if there's anything wrong (like if she needs to go to the dentist). Other then that, I don't know what you could do - and I doubt you'll get a real positive response from her at first.

Thanatos

Slagmire wrote:

It's a bad habit, that's for sure, and if it's been brought up by someone outside of your family, then I think it's fair game.

Pull her to the side, tell her about it, ask if there's anything wrong (like if she needs to go to the dentist). Other then that, I don't know what you could do - and I doubt you'll get a real positive response from her at first.

Yeah, it's a lot more likely to go over well if you pull her aside, and ask about it not in front of anyone.

This is going to sound crazy, but if you avoid using the word "you" or its various declensions, it's also more likely to go over well. Say something like "listen, it really bothers me when people chew with their mouth open."