It might be nice, I often think, to be part of a family where sexuality could be discussed without fear that the world will immediately end in flames. Then again, it also might be nice to live in a land where every day beer rains down from the sky. I’ll never know if either of those things would or would not actually be so wondrous as I imagine because neither of them shows any sign of happening.
A friend of mine (we’ll call him A) has experienced what it’s like to have such an open relationship with his family. He’d probably enjoy the fermented precipitation too but that’s a topic for another day.
You see, not long ago he realized that his mother was on the very same adult-oriented dating site that he frequents. I’m not entirely sure how this realization came to pass, but at the point I met A he and his mother were peaceably coexisting even to the point of discussing the proper fit of dildo harnesses with me one day over Chuck E. Cheese pizza.
While I certainly can’t imagine my own mother needing the services of an adult dating site (or any pegging tips), it seems to work well for them. And more power to them, I say. Why shouldn’t a single mother and her son be friends in real life and virtually?
Well, maybe there is one reason. On this particular adult dating site, friends’ activities are prominently posted on the main page. If someone joins a group, changes her profile, writes a blog post or purchases a premium membership, all her friends know about it. And when she posts a new picture? A picture, say, of her wielding a whip while wearing nothing but a dildo harness?
Yep, all her friends, including her son, are notified. A’s doing fine after the shock of seeing his mom all tricked out like that. He is, however, considering dropping her from his friends list (and I really can’t blame him) because some sights? Some sights you just can’t unsee.
OMG. There are no words.
I’m with you, Zoe…though I’m literally laughing out loud at the same time!!!
OMFG!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
If you’ll excuse me, I have a phone call to make…
wow. oh man… wow… words seem to have failed me… wow.
Thank goodness my mom is still working on getting pictures onto her computer! The internet is a whole ‘nother step.
I think that your goal of being in a family that can talk openly about sex is not so far off. You answer your children’s questions about sexuality frankly and without the associated guilt trip. As your kids grow I think that you may find yourself with a family that has just those qualities! (Quick, check the weather channel for a beer advisory!)
WOW. I have no other words than… wow.
Good for her!
And I was startled finding a prescription for Viagra in my parents medicine cabinet while looking for relief from a headache. I can’t even imagine.
“A Sight One Cannot Unsee” pretty much sums up a LOT of the internet!
I’d have been struck blind right there. Of this I have no doubt.
Yupp thats pretty bad …
imho.: Adding your parents to your friends list on social sites like Facebook, Myspace and so on is the digital equivalent of not moving out.
And since i did that a long time ago, i never did that. I do belive that we all are a happier bunch cause of it.
Giggles.
When I was doing my work, the more inquisitive daughter of my three kept asking me “so what do you do with these guys, Mom?”
As I felt it none of her business, I put her off. However, she is a persistent gal. Finally, one day I looked her straight in the eye and asked her if she really wanted to know. Because if she did, I would tell her.
But, I added, she had better think it through before asking.
She declined and never asked again.
It is for that reason my parents would never be added as a friend on Facebook, let alone would I be likely to see them on any “adult” sites. A should have known better than to add his mother. :)
As a kid, I learned that old people’s pubes turn grey when saw my Grandmother naked (it’s a long story) and my corneas haven’t been the same since.
My son and I are also on the same adult site. Only he doesn’t know it (I hope). I used their service where you run your address book to find friends and he came up. No, I didn’t invite him or say anything to him and I haven’t seen his page. We have always been able to have honest and frank discussions about sex, but seriously…uh no.
Hey Alice, have you considered that he ran his address book and YOU showed up?
:)
That thought certainly crossed my mind. This is one time that I want to be a family that does NOT discuss sex.
wooww..thats all i can say
Some sights I do not even want to think about, let alone have to suffer the pain of seeing!
…I cannot even imagine.
I think in this case ignorance really is bliss!
I would not want to see my parents in anything less than fullly dressed.
But I do have a fond memory of my father and I oggling the same half dressed HS girls at Burger King one evening.
SO
Whine, whine, whine!
So what if they’re discussing sex? Or even if he gets to see pictures of his mom at her sexiest? The proper course is to compliment her on it – just like he would on her cooking if she made him lunch.
At a certain point, you have to grow up out of treating your parents like parents, and move into treating them as adults that you happen to know and have spent a lot of time with.
Sure Anthony, that would be ideal.
I hope that when my kids see me like that some day, they will compliment me. And I hope that if I ever see them that way, I can take a deep breath and say something polite and supportive.
Unfortunately, when we become used to seeing someone in a certain way, it’s hard to break out of that viewpoint. I’m not saying that it’s right, just that it seems to be a fact of life.
Maybe if we discuss it (not the same as whining about it, btw), more people will be comfortable with thinking of their parents as sexual beings.
Your parents are always your parents, and regardless of how open you can be with them about sex (and frankly, I’ve never felt a need to be all that open with my parents about sex… my business, their business, the twain shall never meet) I am not a big fan of seeing parents as just any old jerk walking the street. It seems like a terrible loss, to me, to ignore the unique relationship you have with the people who brought you into the world and nurtured you to adulthood, and if the only “reward” is being able to relate to them as sexual creatures… well, what, really, is the benefit of that? The world is full of people I don’t relate to sexually, and I’m perfectly happy with my parents and my children being among them, regardless of how openly we are able to talk about sexual matters.