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Relationships

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Teenage son saw me having sex and now won’t speak to me

573 replies

mortified48 · 30/05/2026 05:55

Utterly mortified. Bit of background… been divorced for nearly two years after a horrendous marriage. Thanks to good friends helping me with an exit plan, I managed to get out and am now in my own lovely little home. Two DS, 11 and 14 who I share custody with my ex 50/50. Eldest son doesn’t always see eye to eye with his dad who lives about 20 mins walk away.

So yesterday was changeover day and as kids are on half term, they went back to their dad’s at lunchtime and I’m not due to get them back now until Weds (we use a 5 5 2 2 schedule). I was working Fri afternoon and suddenly my eldest appears in my house (he has a key) as he’d had a row with his dad and didn’t want to go back. DS and Ex have a decent relationship but they clash quite a bit and I’m very close to my son. I had a good talk with him and when my ex arrived to come get him, had a talk with him too, calmed the situation and they went back to my ex’s house.

Later that evening my boyfriend of one year came over for some food and a film. It’s worth mentioning here that my kids haven’t met him yet. They’ve bumped into him once, and I talk about him, but more as a close friend I guess. The reason for that is I’m not about to introduce them to someone unless I know they’re going to be sticking around. Ex got a new girlfriend straight after the split and has been with her for 22 months now. At the beginning the kids struggled a little with this, it was quite soon after the split; my ex did the same thing and didn’t introduce her to them straight away incase it didn’t work out. The kids were recently introduced to her properly, and seem ok with it, although it’s a little awkward for them as she’s a teacher at their school. Anyway.. I certainly wasn’t going to introduce my boyfriend to them when they were in the throes of adjusting to dad’s new girlfriend and going on holiday with her and her kids etc.. it’s a lot for them to take in still. So I’ve kept it as mentioning my boyfriends name quite a bit as a friend and then when im sure the relationship has a solid future, i figured this would make it easier to introduce him to the kids.

Back to last night.. boyfriend was round watching a movie, and at about 9pm we got frisky in my living room and then again in the bedroom and then made some food. My phone was in a different room charging. When I went to get it around 11:15pm , I saw a text from the ex at 11pm saying that (unknown to me), my eldest had had a row with him and had run to mine around 9pm, let himself in and saw me having sex 😣 and had got such a shock he ran back to his dads in his socks(!) and now isn’t wanting to speak to me because he feels lied to. I had NO idea he was even in the house and only found out when I went to get my phone from the other room at 11pm. Ex had also texted at 9pm to say DS had rowed with him and was running to mine but I hadn’t seen this. Ex didn’t appear to have tried to stop DS running to mine.
i immediately tried to get in touch with DS as I could see he was still online, but he said he didn’t want to talk and turned his phone off. He’s really upset. I think the “feeling lied to” is probably because I haven’t introduced my boyfriend to him yet and he feels kept in the dark (which he hated when it happened with my ex’s girlfriend at the beginning of their relationship).

Utterly mortified and need advice how to handle this. I’m so close to DS, and he’s never not wanted to talk before and is obviously very shocked and embarrassed and upset. Help!

OP posts:
Ricequark · Today 06:36

thepariscrimefiles · Today 06:35

What an absolutely twatty thing to say. Obviously, OP is mortified and upset, so why on earth do you interpret that as OP enjoying the thrill of being caught?

People who want the thrill of getting caught will have sex in public places, not in their own locked homes. Are you implying that OP wanted her son to return and catch her having sex? If that is the case, why on earth would she post on here?

You obviously just want OP to feel worse than she does already and that says a lot about you.

No I don’t actually think that about the Op

what I do think is that she took a very big and real risk that her young teen son could walk in unannounced given he had done just that a few hours previously

AppleKatie · Today 06:42

Oh so you were using hyperbole to put the boot in then 🤔 glad you’ve realised!

I think the OP understands that which is why she posted.

Ricequark · Today 07:44

AppleKatie · Today 06:42

Oh so you were using hyperbole to put the boot in then 🤔 glad you’ve realised!

I think the OP understands that which is why she posted.

Where’s the hyperbole? Seriously!

AppleKatie · Today 07:48

Saying exaggerated things you know to not be true for effect (a bit like when I used it to suggest I am thick). Blimey give it up!

Ricequark · Today 07:48

Was it risky? Yes
was the risk her teen son seeing her shagging in the living room given he had turned up unannounced hours before? Yes

where is the hyperbole? The suggestion that the op is a risk taker? I stand by that. And given the risk was quite specifically her son being the person who walked in - it’s not out of realms to say that the op knew that.

Ricequark · Today 07:49

AppleKatie · Today 07:48

Saying exaggerated things you know to not be true for effect (a bit like when I used it to suggest I am thick). Blimey give it up!

What was exaggerated? Genuine question!

Ricequark · Today 07:50

got to go to work now but by time I’m back all my posts will have been deleted so 🤷‍♀️

AppleKatie · Today 07:50

As you have been repeatedly told by not just me the bit where you suggested a mother who had come to this website for help was getting a thrill out of being caught by her teenage son.

This is the bit that is so exaggerated and abhorrent several people have tried to tell you over and over.

needaglowupnow · Today 11:13

Evilkineavel · 30/05/2026 06:19

I wouldn’t have had sex in the living room in your circumstances and the bedroom door would have been tightly closed.

you’ve been very foolish.

OFFS sake. It's her house and the kids were not there.

BrentfordForever · Today 12:33

Ricequark · Today 06:13

What are you on about?

let me guess…. All your exes (and your SIL and probably your boss) are “narcissists”? You experienced “school gate cliques” and you’re NC with a handful of people @BrentfordForever 😆

my post was actually supporting you @Ricequark 😉 I posted already I agree with the risk involved

you’re getting a bashing here you prob didn’t realise not everyone is against you

MeltyMomenrs · Today 15:13

BrentfordForever · Today 12:33

my post was actually supporting you @Ricequark 😉 I posted already I agree with the risk involved

you’re getting a bashing here you prob didn’t realise not everyone is against you

She's not 'getting a bashing' and any negativity she is getting is not because she thinks it was risky but because she accused the OP of deliberately doing it to get a thrill from her DS seeing her. Are you really agreeing with that?

TheseWordsAreMine · Today 15:38

Any updates OP?

BrentfordForever · Today 15:48

MeltyMomenrs · Today 15:13

She's not 'getting a bashing' and any negativity she is getting is not because she thinks it was risky but because she accused the OP of deliberately doing it to get a thrill from her DS seeing her. Are you really agreeing with that?

well maybe that’s how she/he/they felt hence she couldn’t work out the tone of my post

dear God not everything is up for debate , we all make our own assumptions from OP 🙄

AppleKatie · Today 16:07

Now I like a good row but this one is getting a bit meta even for me.

I hope it hasn’t put the OP off and all is going well in RL.

mortified48 · Today 17:00

My goodness just catching up with replies.. some are shocking to be honest.

As for the poster who suggested I got a thrill out of it.. are you quite well?!

Thanks to the people who replied and were actually helpful. Let me clear up a few points!

DS did NOT have form for showing up unannounced. That day was the first time he had done it. After all was calm and he was back at his Dad’s, I spoke to him and he was settled. I had NO reason to assume he would be back the same day, especially very late evening at a time when he would normally be settling down for bed.

I had the chain on the front door and the back door was locked. The only thing I didn’t do was leave a key in the back door. I never do this and had no reason to think I should that night. I will start doing that now!

The living room is used only by me, the kids have TVs in their own rooms and never go in there. We started off in there and moved it to the bedroom.. im not entirely sure where DS saw us.. but if the bedroom door was shut he absolutely would have walked in there, having walked 20-25 minutes to my house in the dark . So the end result would be the same.

My bigger concern is the fact that DS was able to leave my ex’s house after dark without my ex knowing and only finding out once he’d been gone for a few minutes and was already on route to mine (and I’ve since found out my ex did nothing to stop him/find him).

It was horrendous timing and DS will likely take a while to get over what he saw, but I’ll follow the decent advice on here (thanks to those who actually took the time to give good advice, rather than shame and bash like others seem to have delighted in!) and talk to my son and apologise for what he saw, but I’ll handle the “lied to” issue gently and will be explaining that at his age he shouldn’t be told EVERYTHING that goes on with my personal life, that would be inappropriate, and that I’d only introduce him to someone I’m dating once I know it’s appropriate and stable to do so. Thats for his protection. That’s a big step and not one I’ll take lightly. I’ll also address the fact that he can’t just run away from his Dad’s in the dark and come to me when he’s had a row with Dad. That’s not okay and certainly not safe. It might, as some posters suggested, be a good opportunity to talk a bit about sex (as some of his peers are already sexually active which shocks me). In my opinion sex should never be thought of as shameful, but something that is part of a healthy and loving adult relationship. Did I want DS to see it?! Of course not! Shame on the poster(s) who suggested I did. I was disgusted to read that.

I’m still reading through some of the responses so I’ll post again when I’ve had another read

OP posts:
aWeeCornishPastie · Today 17:05

Ignore anyone that has anything nasty to say. You sound like a good mum who has her child’s best interests at heart

mortified48 · Today 17:13

aWeeCornishPastie · Today 17:05

Ignore anyone that has anything nasty to say. You sound like a good mum who has her child’s best interests at heart

Thank you. Yes I do, the kids come first in my life, always, and it was an incredibly bad timed unfortunate event... I’m honestly shocked at some of the nasty responses on here. Has blown my mind some of them.

OP posts:
Youtookyourtime · Today 17:17

My bigger concern is the fact that DS was able to leave my ex’s house after dark without my ex knowing and only finding out once he’d been gone for a few minutes and was already on route to mine (and I’ve since found out my ex did nothing to stop him/find him).

your ex handled what happen re his son catching you having sex very supportively. So it seems a bit…. short sighted to try to turn the incident around to actually being about your son leaving your ex’s. I personally wouldn’t say to your ex that you think the bigger problem is what happened under his roof that particular night @mortified48

mortified48 · Today 17:22

Youtookyourtime · Today 17:17

My bigger concern is the fact that DS was able to leave my ex’s house after dark without my ex knowing and only finding out once he’d been gone for a few minutes and was already on route to mine (and I’ve since found out my ex did nothing to stop him/find him).

your ex handled what happen re his son catching you having sex very supportively. So it seems a bit…. short sighted to try to turn the incident around to actually being about your son leaving your ex’s. I personally wouldn’t say to your ex that you think the bigger problem is what happened under his roof that particular night @mortified48

There is a MUCH bigger picture to do with the ex that I’m not going to discuss in this thread.. but I wil be addressing the fact that it’s unsafe for DS to just leave the parent he’s meant to be with unannounced and go off into the dark. He’s always welcome at my house of course but it needs to be done safely and so I have a heads up

OP posts:
Sodthesystem · Today 17:26

Is it a big deal, really?

I’d just joke about it like “Oops. Guess you’ll be discussing that one with your therapist as an adult. Sorry kiddo”. What lies? It’s none of his business who you are shagging if you don’t want it to be. And I’d be clear with him about that. “And knock in future yeah?”.

You don’t need to kiss his ass over it. He really doesn’t have a right to feel any kind of way about it. It’s not like the guy is moving in. I’d master the shrug of “what’s your point? You feel betrayed. Well that’s very much a weird YOU issue little dude”.

Youtookyourtime · Today 17:42

mortified48 · Today 17:22

There is a MUCH bigger picture to do with the ex that I’m not going to discuss in this thread.. but I wil be addressing the fact that it’s unsafe for DS to just leave the parent he’s meant to be with unannounced and go off into the dark. He’s always welcome at my house of course but it needs to be done safely and so I have a heads up

I agree!

However I woukd just take on board that he handled the situation re DS being very distressed at catching you having sex - very supportively it would seem.

MeltyMomenrs · Today 17:56

@mortified48

i think you've got a great grip on the situation & I completely agree with your plan!

Incidentally, I hope things work out for you with the 'not so new' man 💕

AppleKatie · Today 18:07

I’m so glad you’ve come back to the thread OP, I think your plans for handling this are very sensible. I do think it’s important your DS is told that he hasn’t been ‘lied’ to, it is absolutely none of his business who you have sex with, and he’s embarrassed because people don’t genuinely witness or think about their mums sex life NOT because you aren’t entitled to one! Perhaps combined with some reassurance that you aren’t about to move a strange (to him) man in.

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