Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be pissed off DS broke my trust and I need to tell the girls mum?

192 replies

Lavender317 · 24/07/2026 22:33

My ds is 13 and he's different to a lot of teen boys and teens in general as he doesn't care about social media and only has a phone because I feel comfortable with it on the way to school, the phone is his brothers old iPhone 7 (he did have a phone of his own - a Samsung but he lost it). He doesn't care about social media either but does have an iPad and Nintendo Switch and plays on his dads Xbox or brothers PlayStation. His search history on the iPad is normal and he's very into buses so his youtube history is bus routes and the sidemen and whatever he watches with older brother (travel challenges mainly)

He's kind and very thoughtful and he's bright . Hs does have ASD but it doesn’t affect him in many ways now he’s older, he was diagnosed at 3 due to being nonverbal but he really has caught up and it doesn’t really stand out. He goes to an all boys school but outside of school attends cadets and a tennis club which is mixed with both boys and girls. He's quite close to a girl from cadets, I don't think they're dating. Here's where people may flame me though but he asked for her to sleepover and I said yes. I know I know but let me explain.

I had my eldest at 16 - my mum didn't approve of the relationship I had with his dad, he never slept over but I still got pregnant and I didn't feel comfortable telling her about how he was treating me either so my goals for the boys are for us to have an open relationship and where they're respectful men. My eldest had a gf from 13-15 and I allowed sleepovers at 13/14, he also had a best friend who was a girl who'd sleep over from about 8/9 and it never stopped until they fell out (and nothing due to the sleepovers).

Anyway back to it, the girls mum has met ds2 (he went over to the girls house once) and they had a sleepover monday night as the girl has now finished school for the summer too so she came over and they played swingball in the garden and watched a film, had kfc then they spent time in ds’s room on the switch, it was pretty much what ds does when he’s on his own except with a friend. She slept on the air mattress in ds’s room. Fast forward to today when i was hovering ds’s room (im sure some will say he can do it himself but i was already hoovering so it didn’t hurt) and i found a condom wrapper and i admittedly did panic and over react, he only turned 13 in april.

He didn’t seem bothered at all when i showed it him and he said after some questioning that he was showing it her (she showed him a tampon she had in her bag apparently) and she thought it was funny, he said he took it from his brothers drawer and he knew he they were there as he had helped him sort his room once and he went off topic and was talking about how he was confused about why his brother had them if he’s gay but he explained to him about stds, i suspect this was because he felt awkward so tried to change the subject. He said he didn’t know where the condom had gone but kept saying he didn’t have sex with her and got quite frustrated but asked me not to tell DP (i haven’t yet as he’s away). i am inclined to believe him but also he’s a teenage boy and very deep into puberty much more than ds1 was in this age

AIBU to be annoyed with him and feel like he broke my trust? I also have to tell the girls mum don’t I?

OP posts:
ClairDeLaLune · Yesterday 00:28

Yes you definitely need to tell the girl’s parents. But expect a report to safeguarding, and rightly so. What on earth were you thinking, to allow a sleepover? Jeez.

NoSausage · Yesterday 00:29

Why do you think you need to tell the mum? You say you believe he was just showing a girl a condom so what is there to tell?

Or do you mean you actually aren't that naive and know they were up to no good and now want to pass the buck of managing the situation onto another parent?

ClairDeLaLune · Yesterday 00:30

Oh and also YABU to be pissed off. This was a situation of your making with your extremely poor parenting.

SapphireSeptember · Yesterday 00:31

Hankunamatata · 24/07/2026 22:40

Er you made the situation perfect for them to have sex.

No I wouldn't tell the girls mum.

I bloody well would, so she can get her the morning after pill.

ColdAsAWitches · Yesterday 00:34

12234m · 24/07/2026 23:00

It truly reads that you're trying so hard to be cool mum that you're going to be a granny much too soon. Don't rebel against what happened with you at the expense of your kids.

Nail on head!

Yes you tell the girls mum. No you don't allow sleepovers any more!

Ffs, this should be obvious.

Gooseling · Yesterday 00:41

NewDogOwner · 24/07/2026 22:46

This doesn't make it normal for children across Britain. And it doesn't make it OK.

It doesn’t make it ok.

But it happens.

I know loads of people I went to school with who lost their virginity between 12-14.

WeAreNotOk · Yesterday 00:45

Sorry OP, you've set yourself right up there for criticism.
Far too young for that kind of freedom. What were you thinking?

Mischance · Yesterday 00:48

In what way did your son break your trust?

TwoHoots74 · Yesterday 00:52

Did the girls mum know her daughter would be sleeping in your ds bedroom?

youplonkerdave · Yesterday 00:54

@Lavender317 no, don’t tell the girl’s mum. Just don’t let your 13 yo have any more girls sleepover. Otherwise history could repeat itself, with a child having a child! Your DS needs you to parent him, not set him up for parenting.

CurlewKate · Yesterday 01:11

How do you know she isn’t pregnant already? Of course you have to tell her mum.

MaggieBsBoat · Yesterday 01:22

God, I’m with the pps, this is a prime example of terrible parenting. Yes you should tell the mum and absolutely no more bloody sleepovers. What the actual fuck is wrong with you?
I assume the girl‘s mum thought she’d be sleeping in another room or she’s as bad as you!

MrsBlobby64 · Yesterday 01:35

WTF?? Your parenting compass is way off here…

darkandgloomy · Yesterday 01:37

This can't be true??! No decent parent would allow a sleepover in these circumstances...

SleepingStandingUp · Yesterday 01:44

well this girls Mom is facilitatkng their sex life as much as you op so I'd honestly assume you knows they're likely to have a sexual relationship.

I'm assuming the condom wasn't used, so his story probably checks out but it's only a matter of time. id but him his own condoms.

ds, who's gay, not having sex with the girls he dated before he came out, is hardly proof your openness is preventing teen pregnancy

MyArtfulGreySloth · Yesterday 01:51

Terrible parenting!

ToThePoint2026 · Yesterday 01:54

Bizarre parenting and reasoning, won't be long before grandchildren pop along...your letting minors have sleepovers cmon seriously

dapsnotplimsolls · Yesterday 01:59

Yes, you need to tell her Mum. And no more sleepovers FFS.

RoseField1 · Yesterday 02:10

You keep saying it's not about your decision to allow sleepovers but it absolutely is, because this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't!
I have a teen DS who is now old enough to have girlfriends stay over and have sex, we have a smashing relationship and he is very open with me, guess what? He wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend sleep over until they were both over 16 and I was quite open about why! You have a very misguided belief that you can only have an open supportive relationship with your kids if you allow them massively inappropriate levels of freedom. This is completely on you.

Stickonstars · Yesterday 02:11

I don’t want to be nasty or write anything unhelpful, but you need to get your head straight. The parental remedy to you getting pregnant at 16, and being secretive with your parents is NOT providing places at home where your young and teenage children can be sexual with a friend. That’s what you’ve done here.
What you’ve described here about sleep overs in the same room is inappropriate.

nolongersurprised · Yesterday 02:16

If this is true:

yes, you need to tell the girl’s mother. Tell her that you found a condom wrapper and not the condom so she can talk to her daughter

Inmyuggs · Yesterday 02:19

Let her stay oerhaps in another room.
If he is sexually active he needs to remain safe.
If he was playing with a condom and ripping ibto it i do beleive so its possible as when sex education is on at school guess what we find in a nearby areas including tampons..
People need to lighten up about interactions or is is closed.monded in Uk?
Gays are highly likely to get hiv as welll as sti's.
Go educate yourself in being ok with sexual health.
Btw i had a posting at a chemist as a teen..took a packet of condoms to camp to be silly with...i was never sexually active to very late teens.
Good luck for the slaying and judgemental shite its pathetic.

Tinks2026 · Yesterday 02:23

Anyway, you're to blame, so be pissed off at yourself.

And don't do it again.

Alltheducksandgeese · Yesterday 03:08

I think you are getting an unfair response on here. I can see your reasoning behind allowing sleepovers.
I was also allowed sleep overs with male friends as a child and i actually think it was very beneficial to me and my attitude towards boys and men. Absolutely nothing untoward ever happened to me during these sleepovers which were with friends.
I would say though that usually it would be a group, like thered be a few of us mixed sex. And wed watch a film and eat some takeaway and the boys would be on air mattresses and the girl might be in my bed or on air msttresses.
When it was just one boy we were allowed sleep overs but in seperate rooms to sleep.
I did not do anything sexual with any boy until i was in my late teens and was officially in a relationship with this boy.
I was always very open with my parents due to their trust in me and liberal attitudes. I would not have lied about whether someone was just a friemd or not. Nor would i have lied about having sex. Because thered be no need!! I knew my parents wouldnt judge me and i could go to them for help and advice.

So i do see the point of being trusting.
And i do think your son is telling the truth.
You forget what a big deal having sex for the first time is even for boys. Hes 13. His story about just messing about with the condom to amuse her is much more likely than them having had sex.
Theres no way i would habe trued to habe sex at 13 even tho my parents let me have mixed sex sleepovers. And i honestly dont think any of those 13 yo boys would have ever trued to at that age either. No normal kid of 13 has that type of confidence or interest in going thst far im sorry but they dont. A bit of kissing maybe.
Yeah there are some kids out there having sex at 13 but i venture to say those kids are quite troubled and have a lot of other stuff going on
Your son sounds like just a normal boy. His story sounds pretty plausable

But in future i would put a bit more safeguarding in place with this.
Stuff like if its just him and one girl then they csn watch a film together in his room but when u go to ned for the night she needs to go sleep in a seperate room. Until the age of 16 at least. Just to protect the girls from feeling any pressure etc
I get where you are coming from tho but i do think you should just have a little more boundary now that hes entering his teens

TooBigForMyBoots · Yesterday 03:17

Your son is lying to you.
Yes, you need speak to the girl's mum.