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Relationships

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

388 replies

mortified48 · Today 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:
TheseWordsAreMine · Today 08:43

Could have been worse, a dick beaker could have been involved, this thread is funny.

ThatsNicer · Today 08:44

Time is the best ingredient here.
Time for son to absorb what he has seen.
Time for you to work out your thoughts
Please don't rush into conversations, and take any exchange slowly, Thoughts and measured opinions.
It was just one of those things so NO GUILT anywhere. Just love for your son and affection (at least) for BF.

MaryBeardsShoes · Today 08:44

I mean, he’ll get over it. The last thing he probably wants to do is talk about it. Just let him be.

ProudCat · Today 08:44

Well, you can't be on call 24/7 if you have shared custody arrangements.

I think you should probably just let the dust settle for a little bit and allow kiddo to process it. After this, there's a chance you need to talk about boundaries, maybe agree to only have sex in your actual bedroom because all other resources are shared and it's a bit meh.

However, this bit bothered me:

although it’s a little awkward for them as she’s a teacher at their school

Generally speaking (as a teacher) this is hugely frowned on as there's all sorts of potential conflicts of interests - especially if it goes tits up. Not very wise of her. She should have declared this to her DSL. Possibly not worth making a fuss about unless they split and your kids are then placed in the position of having an ex as a member of staff.

Dollysleftnip · Today 08:45

I have never invited a man into the family home that my children sleep in
There are some complete fucking nut jobs out there. You do not want them to know where you live even after a year.

Nowthatshuge · Today 08:45

Glowingup · Today 08:38

Of course he can but it’s polite to let people know if your plans change. I even do that with my DP. If I say I will be away and I’m coming home early I will always tell him. I don’t like sudden surprises of people being there when I didn’t expect them. Even if they live there. But in this case the OP’s phone was in the other room and her ex did warn her at the time that the son was coming.

I do think the son needs to chill out with the running out stuff and learn to control his emotions a bit. If he didn’t have two homes he wouldn’t be able to do that.

I wouldn’t tell a family member in my own home that I was on my way home every time I was going to enter the house? I know that sounds like I’m taking your comment to extreme but that’s the outcome I think isn’t it, the kid should at any point be able to come home unannounced as it’s his home.
Can I ask, is your family set up that youre separated with kids? This isn’t an argument starter honestly, I’m just genuinely asking because from my own experience there are so many nuances that you have to be aware of that you might not think of if you haven’t been in that situation, you constantly (or should be in my opinion) aware of making your kids feel at home in both homes and not feel like they are in any way an inconvenience. It really is impactful on kids having to navigate between two homes, I hate it for them tbh.

Plishplosh · Today 08:45

GingerPubes · Today 08:35

I don't think seeing such a thing would cause trauma or distress. Embarassment, yes but it'll pass. In the late 70s, I saw my Mum and Dad asleep naked. It was a hot night and I presume they kicked the covers off and decided to sleep in the raw. I was embarassed but didn't need a psychologist or a trauma counselling.

You don’t see the difference between seeing your own mum and your own dad naked and seeing your mum having sex with a strange guy that you’ve never met in a communal area of the house you live in? There is very little comparison.

Even if it was the exact same scenario - Newsflash, we are all different! I used to work with kids and believe me different kids react very differently to the same thing, depending on their personality and mindset and emotional health. And yeah some WILL be incredibly distressed and upset by this. I have witnessed this personally, not their parents having sex of course but the aftermath of them seeing or hearing a parent have sex with a new partner and how it impacts kids. Even some kids are very uncomfortable by hearing their parents have sex with each other. They know it happens but just don’t want to hear it which is understandable. I don’t want to see/hear family or friends have sex either.

You can mock it all you want and giggle about “silly snowflakes hehe” etc but these are the facts.

MeltyMomenrs · Today 08:46

Nowthatshuge · Today 08:30

Why can’t they move freely between their homes??? This is awful

Because at 11 & 14 a parent should know where they are, not allow them to just run out of the house whenever they're pissed off. Yes this time he went to his other home, but what if his mum had gone out/away for the night if he'd gone into town, the park...

WitchesCauldron · Today 08:47

ThejoyofNC · Today 08:42

So you have sympathy for the grown woman but the young lad whose life is upside down just needs to get over it?

No I have perspective and the ability to grasp what is and what isn't harmful in the long term.
And well adjusted grown up kids. It's hardly tantamount to his life being 'turned upside down'
Plus making Mum feel bad for a mistake isn't going to help.
The whole situation needs cooling not an overreaction because of a worry he's going to grow into a pervert because he witnessed a parent having sex. He's probably seen worse on his socials.
He'll be fine.

Nowthatshuge · Today 08:47

TheseWordsAreMine · Today 08:43

Could have been worse, a dick beaker could have been involved, this thread is funny.

I now need to know what a dick beaker is please 😂

Miyagi99 · Today 08:48

I think this reflects a lot on your issues with female sexuality and I think views on this have thankfully changed a lot over the years. Who do the boys think are all these men having sex with - I bet most of them are mums, how do boys think they got there in the first place?! This is why it’s so important to be more open about these sorts of things, I don’t mean being explicit of course and seeing it is not advisable but these things happen, sex is normal and should be treated as such. It should be seen as something fun and/or loving not disturbing.

WitchesCauldron · Today 08:48

Dollysleftnip · Today 08:45

I have never invited a man into the family home that my children sleep in
There are some complete fucking nut jobs out there. You do not want them to know where you live even after a year.

Yes you sound completely rational.

AppleKatie · Today 08:48

Dollysleftnip · Today 08:45

I have never invited a man into the family home that my children sleep in
There are some complete fucking nut jobs out there. You do not want them to know where you live even after a year.

This is really extreme. I understand not being ready to introduce to your kids but not wanting your boyfriend of a year to know where you live isn’t normal. I wouldn’t have a relationship with someone who wouldn’t tell me where they live! I also wouldn’t have a year long relationship with a nutjob…

the pearl clutching on this thread is quite something. Obviously it’s embarrassing all round OP but actually you and your husband both sound really sensible, rely on your instincts not this thread for advice!

ChamonixMountainBum · Today 08:49

Yes its embarrassing for all concerned but you will be laughing about it all soon enough. They are teenagers, they know about sex and god forbid now realise that their parents are humans who have sex too.

WitchesCauldron · Today 08:50

GingerPubes · Today 08:35

I don't think seeing such a thing would cause trauma or distress. Embarassment, yes but it'll pass. In the late 70s, I saw my Mum and Dad asleep naked. It was a hot night and I presume they kicked the covers off and decided to sleep in the raw. I was embarassed but didn't need a psychologist or a trauma counselling.

Exactly.

MeltyMomenrs · Today 08:50

TheseWordsAreMine · Today 08:40

Was it on a sofa OP?

None of your business, stop posting creepy crap.

Nowthatshuge · Today 08:50

MeltyMomenrs · Today 08:46

Because at 11 & 14 a parent should know where they are, not allow them to just run out of the house whenever they're pissed off. Yes this time he went to his other home, but what if his mum had gone out/away for the night if he'd gone into town, the park...

He’s 14, the ex had messaged to say where he was
anyhow, this whole thread has turned into unnecessary drama.
nobody did anything wrong here, it’s just unfortunate and everyone will
move on.
nobody should be shaming OP or the son, the comments about whether he should or should not have been in the house are largely in response to posters saying lock him out of his own home or that it’s his fault

Periperi2025 · Today 08:51

AppleKatie · Today 08:48

This is really extreme. I understand not being ready to introduce to your kids but not wanting your boyfriend of a year to know where you live isn’t normal. I wouldn’t have a relationship with someone who wouldn’t tell me where they live! I also wouldn’t have a year long relationship with a nutjob…

the pearl clutching on this thread is quite something. Obviously it’s embarrassing all round OP but actually you and your husband both sound really sensible, rely on your instincts not this thread for advice!

It also doesn't set a positive example to her children as to how she would like them to communicate about and engage in their own relationships as they grow up.
Sounds like a totally dysfunctional family dynamic.

MeltyMomenrs · Today 08:52

ThejoyofNC · Today 08:42

So you have sympathy for the grown woman but the young lad whose life is upside down just needs to get over it?

Dramatic much??

TheseWordsAreMine · Today 08:53

At least he didn't see it on facebook or any other social media.

Nowthatshuge · Today 08:53

mortified48 · Today 06:16

The house was locked up, he has a key for the back door

OP this post has got messy, I think the upshot is that neither you or your son need to spend any time with shame around this.
He will come round soon enough and you can be guided by him how much he does or downs want to talk about.
Sounds like you have a lonely relationship with him and his dad supported you here.
Take a deep breath, you can only move forwards now x

MeltyMomenrs · Today 08:53

Itsnotallaboutyoulikeyouthink · Today 08:42

You can literally put your key in the door so he can’t get in. Why wouldn’t you have done that?

You could have literally read the thread. Why didn't you do that?

TheseWordsAreMine · Today 08:54

LOL front and back doors.

Coconutter24 · Today 08:54

Costatesco · Today 07:00

No, you didn’t

‘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’

yes she did. I think you should start again and read the thread from the top because your replies are proving your reading comprehension is lacking