The other night -- the kids were in bed early, the kitchen was cleaned up, no one from work was texting or emailing us, so -- my husband and I enjoyed some quiet time together. He went to Vevo.com and began playing music videos from two of our favorite singer-songwriters: Ryan Adams and Amos Lee. It was blissful.

Then, he asked me if I had seen the new Miley Cyrus or Robin Thicke videos. As a child of the MTV generation, I love a good music video and honestly couldn't remember the last time I actually watched music videos. No, I responded.

He searched for Miley and her new "Wrecking Ball" video played. Honestly, without the visuals, I really like the song. However, as the music played and she licked the chain of the wrecking ball sans clothes, my hubs went on the describe how important it will be for us to protect our two young girls from "this sort of stuff" when they are older. Then we took a peek at the the Robin Thicke video ... wow. I can't even put into words how shocked I was (am) that this video is so easy to find online.

How do we protect and shelter our young children? Is it even possible in this digital age?

Years ago, when Madonna's "Sex" book came out, I recall a high school friend bringing it to school. The book came out a year before Nirvanna's "In Utero" which featured the song "Rape Me." I remember seeing the book (and flipping through a page or two) and knowing that it was wrong. In 1992 or 93, my dad found my Nirvanna tape and reprimanded me for listening to such music. He made me stomp on the tape and break it in front of him. At the time, I couldn't believe he made me break my tape! Twenty years have passed and I completely understand.

Books, tapes: those were tangible culprits and once found, you were guilty as charged. But today, with sites like YouTube, Vevo and SnapChat -- where explicit imagery can be viewed well under the parental radar -- how is a parent to stumble across the inappropriate material that their tweens and teens are looking at?

Like many moms my age (late 30s), we grew up singing along to Madonna and doing dance routines to Vogue. Madonna pushed the limits of female sexuality and inhibition, while many of us were trying to figure out boys and experimenting ourselves. We admired and loved her; we wanted to be her. Today, I look at Miley and wonder if she's not today's Madonna?

One big difference that I see is the quick and easy access that today's teens have to explicit content via the Internet. Back in the day, many of us had one TV (in the living room) and watching music videos was a luxury monitored by our parents. But with smartphones literally connected to teens' hips, and free sites like YouTube, Vevo and Redtube, how can we protect the next generation when sex and related content is prolific online?

My girls are still young and I feel pretty certain that at two and six, I can keep the inappropriate content far from their young eyes. I wonder how moms of older girls are doing it? I wonder if they realize the potential threats? And, I would love to hear some advice from moms who feel they are doing it right.