When did your dc's become interested in the other sex?

[sorky]

Dd1 is 8.5 and has a rather..erm...attentive friend in Cubs (he's 10yo).

It's only recently I've seen them together and thought . They are as thick as thieves!

Recently he's become a bit possessive of her, insisting she is his partner even if they were paired separately. They are always together.

Yesterday, she described the two of them as magnets!

What do you think?

DD now aged 9.5 has had an ardent interest in the other sex since the age of about four.
Currently the object of her affection is interested in another girl much to her dismay.

How do you deal with it? How do you know if you should do anything?

I'm utterly unprepared for any boy to be interested in her, her father even less so!

my DSD is 7 going on 37 and recently wrote in her super secret diary (that she then left open on the coffee table when she went off to play) that "I love David but David doesn't love me".

7 is too young to have a broken heart.

No idea how to handle it. Have been trying to discus it with DH but he just wants to put his fingers in his ears and pretend it isnt happening.

DS1 said he had two girlfriends when he was 6. Then another girl in his new school wanted to be his girlfriend so she asked him if he would. He said she could be his third girlfriend if she wanted to because he had two others in his old school. She didnt like that idea but so she thought about it for a bit and eventually agreed because as DS1 put it - he was the only boy in the class and there wasn't much choice.

DS1 says he doesn't like girls but I know one girl in his class is smitten with him age 10.

Its just copying older children really and being friends. I wouldnt worry about it.

hmm, my DH is the same, just raised one eyebrow and said "over his dead body" .......not really very helpful either, is it?

Well, I can state clearly I did not see this coming at all. Though on the plus side, she doesn't seem to bothered by it one jot!

I have decided to forget about it, as he moves up into Scouts next half-term and she won't see him again for another 18 months.
If the friendship returns when she's 10.... well, cross that bridge, eh?

7 is too young to feel that way, certainly

Just a thought, but when do you worry about it?

Is there an age where you look at them and wonder whether it's moving beyond playground friends?

you're never too young to have a broken heart

Happens to everyone.

Hmm my 7yo has had a 'boyfriend' since Reception. There's nothing to it though, they're just friends who get on and have a giggle that someday they'll get married.

My 10yo (11 in Jan) has recently started to be more interested in boys since going into Y6. More in a fascination way though, if that makes sense?
She hasn't got a boyfriend (and doesn't want one) but she's certainly got a bit more flirty.

I'd be surprised if at 8.5 there's anything in it. I wouldn't worry - just do what I did and tell her that if she kisses a boy her tongue will turn black and fall out

"Is there an age where you look at them and wonder whether it's moving beyond playground friends?"

I think it's inappropriate to be anything but playground friends until high school, probably around 12/13ish.

But then my eldest is only 10 and I could be being staggeringly naive here ...

My Dd is 9 and said a girl in her class has an ex-boyfriend! Some of the girls the same age as my dd seem old beyond their years, one has "snogged her boyfriend" - my dd would never admit to liking another boy, she still finds it all embarrassing and awful if she sees anything like kissing on t.v.

I know some of these girls have older sisters & one seems to have a lot more freedom than my dd( has a facebook profile and mobile phone and loves lady gaga) dd has never seen a lady gaga video afaik, and has more innocent interests atm - she dislikes anything "fashionable or girly" but I worry she is a bit extreme in her opposition sometimes!

It's sad but I can remember having a 'boyfriend' in primary school, I must have been 6 or 7. He bought me a chocolate heart for valentines day and I broke up with him because I liked another boy better...not sure how my parents dealt with it...