No one wants to think that they smell, but it happens and there are many ways to deal with it.

But odor is subjective and bringing it up can be perceived as an insult.

Here’s an example with an aunt, her nephew and her bohemian sister-in-law.

AITA for helping my nephew with his body odor?

My nephew just turned 14 and is going through puberty. He hit a major growth spurt and now his body odor is in full force.

I picked him up last week and his body odor was so strong that it lingered in my car for several days.

She took steps to spare him from bullying.

He told me he was getting picked on in school for smelling bad.

I comforted him by telling him that was normal and he isn’t the only kid to experience this. But with some shopping we could fix that.

I felt it was a great experience for both of us and he genuinely seemed excited about trying out different deodorants, body washes and sprays.

But her sister-in-law strongly disagreed.

After I dropped him off, I received an angry text from my SIL saying I completely overstepped and disregarding their instructions as parents.

They are bohemian and don’t have great hygiene and can’t smell his odor.

She said I caused “irreversible damage” to his self esteem and I should mind my own business, otherwise she wasn’t sure she felt comfortable with me spending time with him.

AITA?

Here’s what folks are saying.

This. Why wouldn’t you want to help your kid avoid being bullied?

Foresight is important. It’s also good to learn that your parents don’t know everything and it’s okay to disagree with them.

I like how she talked about it without judgment.

Indeed. It’s so unfortunate when parents keep their kids in the dark about things.

Good question, but I doubt they would care.

Puberty sucks. People like this aunt make it better.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.