What age did your child have their first crush?

[RaveToTheGrave1]

My son is 7 and has a crush on another boy, he's had crushes on girls and boys before but this time it's really getting him down and he said he feels lovesick!

I think i was the same sort of age when I had my first crush but I can't really remember, tried to tell him it's not a big deal and everyone gets crushes but he says it's making him feel depressed

How does your 7 year old know what depression is?

take his mind off it!
cheer him up

They know the word from school, they talk about mental health from year 1 quite openly

He's 7, not 2

This sounds a little intense for a seven year old. I would try to get to the bottom of all of this and get lots of chats and extra quality time in with him when you can.

Well yes obviously i have been doing that but we'll do something fun that he enjoys but then he'll do a big sigh or look sad and forlorn, he says I definitely don't understand 😅

He does have tendency to be quite intense about things, we managed to have a really good chat the other day and he said he was worried the bigger boys will take the mick that he has a crush on a boy, I did say well nobody has to know unless you want them to but he was still quite funny about it

I'm sure it will pass - tlc, distraction, chats etc as I'm sure you're doing.

I'd try and rephrase as sad, disappointed, frustrated etc rather than 'depressed'. Normalise his feelings.

@RaveToTheGrave1 bless him, that is totally understandable and kids really can be harsh, so his worries make sense from that perspective. I don’t have any advice and am not sure how I would deal with it- hopefully there are some posters on here who can give advice based on their experiences.

Thank you, I've tried saying well it's not depression as such and I got met with oh I knew you wouldn't understand like he's 17 not 7 😂 I've told him ill never judge him whoever he has a crush on but it's a little early to be having such a big feeling about that sort of emotion and it'll pass soon