DB is much younger than me, 13 years old.
He's absolutely wonderful in many ways, DP and I are having him visit for the weekend and he's been a delight.
It's probably relevant to note that he's quite shy, a huge people pleaser and has very little confidence.
We try hard to build him up and support him in every way we can.
Unfortunately he has very little self awareness and has a lot of "quirks" that would/do draw negative attention by his peers.
One particularly bad example is his eating. He has a mild issue with his nose which makes it slightly difficult to breathe (not at all a health issue just an annoyance IYSWIM) because of this he is a full on mouth breather. It gets particularly bad when he eats.
He is a horrific eater; he chews with his mouth open so you can see and hear everything. He breathes through his food which rattles and squelches. It isn't mild annoyance bad, it really is awful. It draws attention to him and is extremely off putting to ones own food.
Our Dad (well, my stepdad) was exceptionally critical of me whilst I was eating when I was younger, so I've developed somewhat of a complex; I'm overly sensitive to the noise* and I one of my major anxieties is eating in public.
I absolutely do not want DB to suffer from this.
However I also don't want him to get bullied.
It's always been an issue and I've always gritted my teeth presuming he'd grow out of it. However he's coming up to 14 and it's still a significant issue.
AIBU to raise the issue? And how could I possibly do this without hurting his feelings and damaging his self esteem? Surely it'd be easier for him to fix now than as an adult?
FWIW I have gently mentioned it to no avail. Also Dad would not be able to handle it sensitively and Mum has her own anxieties.
*This isn't to say I'm overreacting to DBs noise, others have noticed