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25th May 2016
01:59pm BST
“Lately, I have noticed Tyler spending a lot of time in his bedroom. This normally isn't too concerning, but the other day I was putting laundry in his drawers, and I stumbled upon what seemed to be, well, homemade sex toys. A lot of things that have gone missing in the couple of months were all in there. I won't go into detail, but it seems like they were made for insertion.”Previously, the poster had described how she is a single mother and has no other children.
“I am a 42-year-old single mom of my 15-year-old son, Tyler (names changed, of course). His father is not a part of our lives (he left shortly after I became pregnant unexpectedly), and I have no plans for remarrying any time soon, nor do I have any other children.”While the situation was surprising for the mother, she didn’t come seeking advice about her son’s sexuality or behaviour, but instead to find information on safer sex toys that he might be able to experiment with.
“I don't want to seem like a snooping mother, but I'm mostly concerned with his health. Could he hurt himself?”
Users responded with advice suggesting the original poster give her son a budget on a pre-paid gift card or credit card, and allow him to choose an item online. This would ensure her peace of mind that the objects were safe, while still allowing him to maintain his privacy.
Many fellow parents praised the mother for her openness.
“This is the best advice here. The absolute worst thing you can do is make him feel ashamed about sexuality, masturbating, or his body. It will be an awkward conversation but tell him you found what you found by accident. You respect his privacy and what he is feeling and doing is normal and nothing to be ashamed of just that using makeshift toys is unsanitary and potentially dangerous,” writes one.With others sharing similar experiences from the other perspective.
“I wish I had you as a mum. I was in a similar situation when I was younger and my parents went into full shame mode. Almost two decades later and I'm still too ashamed to talk about sex or romance. I still live with my parents, my only goal in life is finding a wife and having kids but I've never been able to ask a girl out because that would show them that I am a sexual being and they might react the same way my parents did. Intellectually I know it's not likely to happen but emotionally it is still holding me back,” writes another commenter.View the thread in full HERE.
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