Maggie Perkins, 32, made news in 2022 when she abandoned her teaching job to work at Costco and has shown no interest in returning. “The conditions were deteriorating fast, and I recognized they were not improving, and no one appeared concerned enough to take action. “I was 29 when I decided to leave,” she told People, adding that she was earning $47,000 at the time.

“The more I learned about Costco and the different roles at the company, the happier I was at the idea of working there, whether at the warehouse or corporate, for the rest of my career,” she told me. “I feel like there was great potential reward for pursuing it.” Now, three years later, she educates other staff and has no regrets about quitting her previous job.

Perkins, who has been out of the classroom for a few years, can now speak things she couldn’t say while working as an instructor. So she made a video in which she divulged four major secrets that she had kept to herself; all of them were related to children’s cleanliness. “I used to be a teacher, and I couldn’t have said any of this to you or your kid,” she says at the start of the video.

“If your child’s nails are long and unclean, other kids will notice, and it is also nasty.”Kids get impetigo from their fingernails,” she explained.

2. Begin using deodorant before it smells.

“Please start putting deodorant on your kids before you notice that they need it,” she told me. “Fifth grade, guys, fifth grade, deodorant.”

3. Your youngster should start wearing bras sooner than you anticipate.

“It doesn’t have to resemble an actual bra.” “This is similar to a soft, athleisure-style garment,” she explained. “Nobody wants to be mocked for not wearing a bra when they should.”

4. Wash the sweatshirt and hoodie frequently.

“Wash the jacket as soon as the cuffs get brown and ragged.” I’m watching them wipe their snot on the jacket sleeve day after day,” she explained. “They’re walking around in a dirty snot rag.”

Perkins’ counsel is both for the child’s health and to avoid humiliation. “There’s no worse feeling than being a sixth grader who has an acute awareness of being different from others and facing criticism,” she told me. “Your child is likely more aware of it than you, but they don’t talk to you about it, as kids don’t talk to their parents much.”

The post went viral on TikTok, garnering over 2.4 million views, and resonated with Perkins’ fans, who shared their childhood experiences of embarrassment due to hygiene concerns. “Parents, please encourage your children to be empathetic, as not all children come from loving homes. “Be the love they don’t have, and don’t mock kids who smell or don’t wear bras,” said a viewer. “I would have been delighted for an instructor to tell my mother this. “I went to middle school without a bra and was embarrassed to change in the locker rooms,” another said.

Finally, Perkins’ advice is aimed at assisting parents in anticipating and addressing any possible hygiene or clothing difficulties that their child may experience before they become a problem, whether they result in illness or humiliation. The retired teacher’s advice is a terrific reminder that taking additional precautions at home may make things much simpler for children on the playground and in the classroom.

@itsmaggieperkins Things I couldn’t say while I was a teacher: 1. Cut your kids nails 2. Get them deodorant before they start really stinking 3. Start wearing a bra before it’s really noticeable 4. Wash those hoodies. #teachersoftiktok #formerteacher #teacherlife #teachertok #middleschoolteacher ♬ original sound – Maggie Perkins 🍉