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Original poster

If your child ate with their mouth open, would you tell them?

57 replies

Chefpig · 18/09/2026 19:16

I see so many kids eating with their mouths wide open these days. Have people forgotten basic manners and etiquette?

OP posts:
Namechangetheyarewatching · 18/09/2026 19:17

Stop being a cement mixer!!

Which is what I used to say to mine..."cement mixer mouth"

CaptainCalm · 18/09/2026 19:17

Yes, every time. It’s disgusting.

excitedfortea · 18/09/2026 19:18

Yes I would tell them. I hate seeing adults do this, who were clearly never corrected as a child. It’s really gross 🤢

FreddysFingers · 18/09/2026 19:19

Disgusting. And the mouth slapping/smacking, it's terrible manners.

FreddysFingers · 18/09/2026 19:19

Namechangetheyarewatching · 18/09/2026 19:17

Stop being a cement mixer!!

Which is what I used to say to mine..."cement mixer mouth"

😂😂😂

leavesinthebreeze · 18/09/2026 19:19

Yes.
Drives me mad how often you see people on tv eating with their mouths open and speaking with their mouths full. Disgusting.

Gonk123 · 18/09/2026 19:20

It’s a disgusting habit. Anyone at my dinner table is told, family or visitors. It makes me sick! Basic manners.

Livingoverseas123 · 18/09/2026 19:20

I would tell them. It’s gross.　

But you are correct. We now live in a society where anything goes. And if you object to any aspect of another person’s behaviour you are being unreasonable.

SoManySliders · 18/09/2026 19:21

I have a 5 year old and I tell him all the time as I did with my older children. He has half siblings on his dads side who eat and talk with their mouths open. They are finally getting better with age, early teens.

i used to work with a lady in her 30’s who would eat with her mouth open complete with surround sound. Really lovely girl but it was horrifying.

Evolutionarygoals · 18/09/2026 19:21

Close. Your. Mouth.
DD didn't do it till she started school. She also used to know how to use cutlery and has now forgotten. I used to be so smug that, if nothing else, we'd managed to give her table manners. Pride comes before a fall!

MissChanandlerBonng · 18/09/2026 19:21

Yes, correct it every single time. Mouth closed when you’re eating.

MyManinCaracas · 18/09/2026 19:24

Close your mouth when you chew
Hold your knife and fork properly
Put your napkin in your lap when you sit down
Say please and thank you
If you pour water for yourself offer it to others first

Everydayimhuffling · 18/09/2026 19:28

Yes. Multiple times every meal. Apparently it takes a lot of correcting to learn...

FancyKitten · 18/09/2026 19:30

DS picks his nose. And eats it…

ScaramoucheCanYouDoTheFandango · 18/09/2026 19:30

Yes, and their friends get told if they are eating at mine too.

GreenFootstool · 18/09/2026 19:32

I tell adults as well.

Or I leave the area for fear of stabbing someone.

I cannot fucking bear noisy eaters let alone full mouth open chewing. Utterly unacceptable unless you have a medical condition that affects your mouth / ability to breathe whilst chewing.

I do note that a lot of people who've had too much in the way of lip filler leaving them with a permanently open set of lips are badly affected for their ability to eat and drink normally.

ElefantAndCastle · 18/09/2026 19:32

Of course we would.

theneighbourgotmycake · 18/09/2026 19:33

obviously

but when parents do it too, no chance of improvement.

Look at all the threads where people claim manners don't apply at home, that it's wrong to "shame children" and all that nonsense.

ItsAlwaysTwins · 18/09/2026 19:33

Always. It’s disgusting.

Mosaic80 · 18/09/2026 19:34

Yes, told 5 yo multiple times this evening! She can correct it in others and notice when she’s eating nicely but just slips sometimes. Hopefully it’ll stick soon! 14yo ds is fine but does like to talk with his mouth open and hand hovering over 🤣

Didion · 18/09/2026 19:36

Of course!

The only people I've ever known who wouldn't are Americans. I lived in the US for two years and was disgusted by their lack of table manners. Chewing with mouth open, talking with food in mouth, reaching over other people's plates for food and condiments etc. Table manners just don't seem to matter as much there.

SeriousTissues · 18/09/2026 19:39

Yes, I would. My OH makes dreadful eating noises and when people suggest I tell him to close his mouth I have to tell them he doesn’t eat with his mouth open! I am noise sensitive!

Yello24 · 18/09/2026 19:43

Clicked on this because I’m still traumatised by hotel breakfast experience today when a man sat on next table to me and started making the loudest smacking and squelching noises. I thought he was playing a video or something.
He was just eating with his mouth entirely open and sort of smacking the mush up and down repeatedly. Couldn’t believe he had got that far in life with nobody telling him.
Wish his mum had told him.

Releasemeplease · 18/09/2026 21:23

FancyKitten · 18/09/2026 19:30

DS picks his nose. And eats it…

It's disgusting.
I was just talking about this earlier today that some children have always done this. But what I'm seeing on a regular basis now is adults, of all ages, very openly picking their noses, and some actually eating the stuff. It turns my stomach. It's something I rarely used to see adults doing but now it's normal.
I do feel people just don't care any more about what used to be basic manners and basic hygiene.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 18/09/2026 21:32

My son has difficulty eating with his mouth fully closed because he needs a brace but can’t have one yet.

But he CAN do it, so yes I always telling him to because eating with your mouth open is disgusting and won’t go down well in life.