Everyone wants to eat healthy food and grow up healthy. Honestly, that’s a great goal! But food politics within the family can be cruel. Knowing what, when, and how much someone is eating can be dangerous, especially if it’s something that’s considered “bad” or “junk food,” and the line between “I’m concerned about your health and nutrition” and “I’m ashamed of my food and my body” can certainly be thin. This is what Redditor u/WinComprehensive8274 (we’ll call him Win) recently encountered with his sister and nephew. Now she wants to know, “Am I Ashur?”
“I’m feeling increasingly guilty about this,” she began. “Help me feel better or worse.”
An auspicious beginning for the ever-popular AITA.
She went on to explain that her sister has a one-year-old son, who Wynn is looking after while she and her partner move.
“I became more and more shocked at what she would send him to my house for lunch. Now it’s a sausage roll, two bags of crisps, chocolate biscuits, a cake bar, and most recently Jaffa cakes,” she says. “Thankfully we always have yogurt, but it’s the only way to get nutrition.”
Concerned, Wynn began broaching the subject with a “joking approach,” telling her sister that her child would be jealous of all the snacks and making comments about sugary highs. but…
“A few weeks later, I told her that if I fed her all that junk, that poor child would lose all her teeth by the age of five.”
Clearly, my sister was upset and began to feel mortified.
“[She]said I’ve been accusing her of being a crappy parent, and now things aren’t the same between us,” Wynn laments. “I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but he’s a baby and he really should be eating healthier. I have no idea what to do from here.”
When it comes to AITA, there is generally a wide range of opinions on the answers, but the consensus clearly leans towards either “Not As*r” (NTA) or “You are As*r” (YTA). This, along with “Everyone Sucks Here” (ESH) and “No Assh*les Here” (NAH), was the most perfect mix of the two I’ve ever seen…
“ESH” is the comment with the most upvotes. “Yes, you need to feed him better, but you went completely wrong. Joking won’t solve anything. And snapping and acting like all your baby teeth are going to fall out was a terrible thing to do. You’re an adult. Learn to communicate properly and express your concerns like an adult.”
“YTA,” says another. “You didn’t even try to talk to her sister from her sister. You went from passive-aggressive banter to right down her throat. There was no conversation where you said, ‘Hey, can I talk to you because I’m seriously worried?'” That’s not cool. ”
“NTA according to your intentions,” suggests a third. “But tell YTA how you did it.”
But not everyone felt Wynn was in the wrong. Many commenters chimed in, “NTA.”
“I know it’s not your responsibility, but please feed this baby real food.”
“NTA should be thoroughly ashamed of its poor parenting practices,” the second man frankly declares. “Someone has to stand up for these kids.”
But one comment stuck with me. While it didn’t offer “YTA” or “NTA” or even “ESH,” it did offer some good advice.
“In my experience, it is never wise to tell parents how to raise their children,” they write. “Literally nothing good will come of it. The parents won’t change their attitude towards the child and will just resent you, even in situations where you’re completely right. But if the child is in your care when you drop them off, you can simply do that.” do not have Let him eat most of that food. ”
