My 7 year old came home in tears today

[DigOlBick]

Because her boyfriend cheated on her.

Is this what 7 year olds have to deal with now??

Pretty sure I was still eating mud and being shoved down a hill in shopping trolley by my brothers at 7!

I’m trying to be supportive but jeez this seems all so grown up for that age! Is this what your 7 year olds are all like?

[dudsville]

"Pretty sure I was still eating mud and being shoved down a hill in shopping trolley by my brothers at 7!" This made me laugh, me too op, but from what I gather things are happening younger and younger, 7 though, my goodness.

[Ubiquery]

Cheated how?

[MoreAloneTime]

I remember my own volatile break up at this age when my boyfriend got us all a whole class detention

[Paddingtonthebear]

Erm, no. My DD is 9, in Y4 and there is no talk of this amongst her or her peers!

[Rinoachicken]

@Ubiquery

Cheated how?

Perhaps another girl offered him a pencil and he didn’t decline!

[elliejjtiny]

That's so sad. My 8 year-old has a "girlfriend" which just means they are friends at school and they are planning on getting married when they grow up. My 7 year-old isn't interested which I'm quite pleased about.

[TeenMinusTests]

Did you know your 7yo had a 'boyfriend'?

At age 7 surely she has boys that are friends, and therefore they can't 'cheat'?

[DigOlBick]

He has cheated on her by getting another girls friend behind her back apparently. I’ve told her at her age it isn’t real and to not worry about boyfriends. Makes me quite sad. They’re all paired up in her class apparently.

[TeenMinusTests]

tbh I'd be suggesting to the teacher that 'pairing up' at that age wasn't appropriate and should be discouraged/diverted.

[Starfish1021]

Jesus. Not happening in our house (with a 7 and 9 year old). Seems very young, can you have a chat to the teacher?

[Listenkid]

I remember my 1st heartbreak well! I was 9 so happy when he asked me to be his girlfriend with a little note when we got to school. By the time the morning playtime ended he had dumped me for my bestfriend, still haven't got over it 💔 my dd is also 7 no sign of heartbreak yet her df did tell her he would send her to live with her grandparents overseas if she thought about getting one though.

[TracyLords]

My 6 year old told me has a girlfriend. In fact he has 3 girlfriends. He is very insistent that our male friends (in a couple together) are my boyfriends and daddy is “only” my husband. I suspect he thinks that friends that are girls are “girlfriends”

[Iamthemaid]

Nope, not had this with mine!

[DeathMetalMum]

Dd1's class now year 6 was all about boyfriends and girlfriends in year 3/4/5. Thankfully it seems to have calmed down a bit.
Dd2 is year 4 and her class is completely different, not a mention of it. Think it depends on the class.

[LazyMareofEastown]

Nope, wasn't a thing for my 13 year old at any stage in primary school. She's now Yr 8 and still no boyfriend chat. She's always been very sensible and independent though and would've given short shrift to anyone pushing that kind of behaviour

DS is 7 and just heads off to play football when any silly girlfriend/boyfriend chat starts.

It's a real bugbear of mine when parents encourage children to mimic adult relationships and consequently adult dramas. Sends such negative and potentially harmful messages to our kids and shows really poor judgement.

[DigOlBick]

My friends kids are the same apparently and they are all at different schools in different counties. I do think kids are growing up a lot faster these days. There are girls in her class who wear bras and wear makeup

[VitalsStable]

Jesus tell her boys are smelly gross things (from DD8)

[StillPerplexed]

I remember moving to a new school when I was about 9 and being surprised to learn that the other kids had boyfriends and girlfriends and crushes, and then I moved the next year to another school and there was none of that. I think it's less kids growing up fast and more different playground cultures. I can see why you'd be uncomfortable with it though, I don't like it when adults are like "oh they're going to get married" when they see a boy and girl play together.

[PeterPomegranate]

Crikey. My 6 year old doesn’t have a girlfriend. And neither does his 11 year old brother.

[PeterPomegranate]

@DigOlBick

My friends kids are the same apparently and they are all at different schools in different counties. I do think kids are growing up a lot faster these days. There are girls in her class who wear bras and wear makeup

Year 2 or year 3 children wearing bras and makeup??!!

[PaddingtonStareBare]

Ah bless 😁
I remember my first marriage, married at first break as we decided we loved each other, complete with ceremony as my best friend and I planned it for two days, but divorced by lunch as he passed some pencils to another girl when colouring something.
I was livid so broke it off.
We were 6 😁.
All normal.

[Thingsdogetbetter]

I had a boyfriend in school when i was 5 back in 1973. It's not exactly a new thing. It was just a boy I was best friends with - I don't think I realise girls and boys could be (just) friends so therefore he was labelled a 'boyfriend' instead. I got that idea from the adults around me.

He was a child model and very rich. It's been downhill from there unfortunately.

[stingofthebutterfly]

My children wouldn't have even understood the concept of cheating on someone at age 7. I find this is a very sad reflection of today's society.

[DigOlBick]

I remember some boyfriends and girlfriends being a thing in year 6 when I was at school it not younger. My daughter is only year 3. I always thought she was quite young for her age but actually I think she’s just right auf it’s the other kids that seem way too grown up.
They had to wear pyjamas to school for children in need and I had to take her to buy new ones as she didn’t want to be made fun of for wearing her normal pyjamas because they have characters on.

[ITSSSSCHRISTMASSS]

I may get bashed for this but I think it is a lot to do with certain parents. My 9yo DD class this is not and has never been a thing. My 7yo DDs class this has been a thing since reception with kids having boyfriends and girlfriends, cheating etc… the kids who started it have parents who actively encouraged & thought it was cute they were boyfriends and girlfriends. It rapidly spread through the class with other kids following suit.