It's those stolen moments when you think you've hit the jackpot and put the children early to bed.
Just when you're in the throws of pleasure, out peeps a little head from behind the bedroom door. Busted! So many questions go through your mind: Did they see anything? What did they see? How do I explain this to them?
It's traumatic enough when your child catches you getting intimate; never mind the sounds coming from your room if they can hear you. It's for the this very reason that a video went viral this week of a boy trying to explain to his older sister that he caught his parents having sex, not once, but three times.
When caught red-handed, how do you explain to your child what they just encountered? While writing for US publication Parent Map, writer Malia Jacobson shared a few tips for parents.
Keep the door locked
Parents can ward off this purely preventable incident by simply installing a locking bedroom doorknob.
Dial down the details
"Don’t assume that your child saw everything - or much of anything. A preschool-age child is probably not aware of what’s happening under those sheets," says Jacobson.
Get down to basics
"As with any parent-child dialogue about sex, a parent’s ultimate goal should be to answer questions honestly without oversharing and leave the door open -so to speak - for future talks," she added.
Take a quiet moment
The morning after is always the best time to clear the air. Start by apologising and making it clear that in no way did your child do anything wrong by walking in at an inappropriate time.
"Because a child might be frightened by what he saw, it can be helpful to portray sex as a completely normal, even universal, part of marriage and adulthood," concluded Jacobson.