Sex scenes in tv when watching with children!

[WallyWallyWally]

Inspired by the “children staying up later / losing child free evenings” thread...

I feel like such a plonker posting this.

We have a 9yr old and 12 yr old DSs. I thought it would be good to watch Good Omens with them I’ve read the book, didn’t seem anything too bad, and it has a great cast. And it was great, we all really enjoyed it.

However, I’d forgotten about that two of the main characters have sex within about 5 minutes of meeting each other though :-) in the book, it’s just skipped over / implied, but in the tv show there was a fair amount of headboard banging, writhing and groaning, bedpost clutching and a little bit of nudity. Pretty tame compared to some - but it’s the first time we’ve watched a sex scene with our children (usually we watch nature, cookery, etc together if anything - watching Good Omens was the first time we’ve sat down to watch anything like this as a family) and it caught me totally unawares. I know it’s stupid, but I was mortified! It took me right back to cringing alongside my parents if anything remotely sexy came on tv!

Is my reaction normal? How can I be a cool parent? I’m totally fine talking about sex and relationships with them but sitting watching people do it with my children? Argh cringe!
Do you watch sex scenes with your children? Do you cringe / make a joke / run away to make a cup of tea (I may have done all these things)?

The key for me is both participants enjoyed it, no rape or violence. Parents are oddly often more comfortable with their children seeing graphic levels of realistic violence than nudity or vanilla sex.
That’s said, when my children were younger, I sometimes previewed films before we watched them. How did your sons handle their viewing?

Stick to guidance ratings, surely?
I couldn't give a fuck if i was considered cool. I am their parent and thats what they need. Not a cool older sister or aunty.. i am their parent.

But some 12 ratings are closer to a 15, others just past a PG. If you aren’t sure, preview.

I would have checked the guidance ratings and given it was TV, changed the channel when the sex scene came on and changed back in a few minutes.

Simples.

They are a bit young to watch a sex scene to be honest. Having said that I knew about sex from a young age because of working at a stables at weekends.

It was on Amazon Prime, unlike Netflix there isn’t an obvious age rating on the info page. I googled it after and the recommended age was 13, with some 16. I misguidedly thought it would be like the book which is definitely not a 16!

By “cool” I meant “able to sit in the same room as my children when totally normal / happy / positive / non coercive sex is shown briefly” - not that I’d sit and watch porn with them!

The boys were fine: the 12 yr old laughed a bit and the 9 yr old said “does that mean there’s going to be a baby witch now?” ;-) (the female character is a witch).

Surely a little too much for both of them ! Especially the 9 year old .May be best to check the ratings first really .

They know about sex: despite my squeamishness in this instance, they’ve been told the truth about sex and babies since they were old enough to ask.

I wouldn’t be bothered now but DS is 16. Probably would have been mortified if he was under 12 but that’s my embarrassment, not his as DH as caught him using porn hub before 🤔

IMDb Parent Guide is your friend here. It gives a factual and concise description of pant sex, violence or swearing without spoilers.

My kids (9 and 13) find the tiniest hint of romance utterly excruciatingly awkward, and it doesn't matter whether it's an actual sex scene (although only the 13 year old has seen one) or eye contact and a bit of hand holding - they will be hiding behind a cushion or out of the room within seconds.

Haha it's awful isn't it.

Same happened to us the other night only we were watching a docu drama on BBC4 at 8pm. It was Lucy Worsley's Henry the VIII which I'd seen before. And no nudity obvs. But old Henry was humping an unimpressed Anne of Cleeves. I was mortified. And DH had fallen asleep with the remote control until I hissed at him. Kids are 8 & 10.

We flicked back 5 minutes later to the words 'wet dream' and had to flick again. 😂

I'm never going to be cool I don't want to watch anything like that with my kids ever! Too cringy.

But why’s it so cringe? I keep thinking if I could work that out, I wouldn’t cringe so much! I a totally fine talking about sex in a factual way, but watching it?? Maybe it’s because visual depictions of sex are intended (or not) to titillate? And that’s maybe the cringe factor.

BroomstickOfLove,

My DS 12 is exactly the same - out of the door like a shot

Just to clarify - I did NOT type the word ‘pant’ in my previous post. My phone clearly decided it needed to be there though!

DD & DH have wild banter over any sex scenes. They keep trying to provoke the other. It's how they cope with the embarrassing stuff .

I make a joke of it and tell them to cover their eyes! My DS10 and DD13 are very open about Sex as I work in women's health and take about vaginas all the time every day at work.
My DS10 was reading a clinical paper in the car yesterday on vaginal dryness - although I did draw the line at him putting that in his reading record at school!!

Many years ago, DD (8) was watching Buffy (violent female role model, yay) and we were out of the room when Spike got her into bed. We heard enough that we moved pdq. She seemed fascinated and not overly concerned. However: "Are they doing sex?"
"Er, yes".
"If he's a vampire, won't his willy be cold?"
"Nnnngggghhh!"

My 15 year old DS legs it when something like this comes on.