When did your son start showing interest in girls?

[Anonymous]

Age/grade?

Should a boy still be apathetic in 6th grade (or at least claim he is?)

[Anonymous]

My son is 5 years old and shows clear interest in scantily clad women in magazines :/

[Anonymous]

Ha - re: the 5 year old. I do remember wondering about some of that from DS at that age. Parent of newly 13 yo son here. I think some go through phases - in and out as they approach puberty. Others, like DS, finally show a clear preference as puberty starts. Some are shy and wouldn't dream of showing interest until their mid teens and may even keep it secret then. We sort of wondered which way DS would swing when he was younger. Most kids seemed more aligned with their own gender during the elementary years. The girls started the whole boy interest much earlier - by several years - than the boys being interested in girls. There are always outliers but the over all trend is puberty IMO.

[Anonymous]

My son is in 8th grade. He is straight but does not feel romantically towards girls yet. They're all just friends.

Please do not rush your son. He's fine.

[Anonymous]

Our son was not interested in 6th, vaguely interested in 7th and 8th, and full-on interested in 9th.

As PP noted, your son is fine.

[Anonymous]

my 6th grader is not interested-he has friends but no interest in dating-fine with me we have enough drama around here.

[Anonymous]

I have a 9 year old boy who has a very selective group of friends and they are all girls. To him they are his best friends, they are the ones he wants to have play dates with. He does have friends who are boys, but it's clear they are not his first choice to hang out with.

I would not rush things with your son, OP. In due time he will make his own decisions.

[Anonymous]

OP here, please let me clarify that I wouldn't and don't wish to "rush" him! I was just curious. Thank you for your replies.

[Anonymous]

5. He gets moony eyed over them. However, I remember doing the same thing and then shutting down any outward appearance of interest by the time I was a pre-teen. And showed no outward interest in my early teen years because I was awkward, and probably socially immature. I felt comfort in not feeling pressure to date, etc. And didn't date for real until senior year of high school.

I will try very hard to not let my son date before high school at least. Crushes and stuff? Fine. No real dating. School has to come first. And if he's anything like me, he will be happy with that parent-imposed boundary. We will see...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is in 8th grade. He is straight but does not feel romantically towards girls yet. They're all just friends.

Please do not rush your son. He's fine.

Totally the answer!!!

I'm female, but I was the same. I knew I was straight, but not a single specific boy interested me at all until I was a junior in high school (and he didn't even interest me all that much).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5. He gets moony eyed over them. However, I remember doing the same thing and then shutting down any outward appearance of interest by the time I was a pre-teen. And showed no outward interest in my early teen years because I was awkward, and probably socially immature. I felt comfort in not feeling pressure to date, etc. And didn't date for real until senior year of high school.

I will try very hard to not let my son date before high school at least. Crushes and stuff? Fine. No real dating. School has to come first. And if he's anything like me, he will be happy with that parent-imposed boundary. We will see...

You may not even need to impose anything. Not all kids even want to date in middle school. Some circles do, some dont.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in 8th grade. He is straight but does not feel romantically towards girls yet. They're all just friends.

Please do not rush your son. He's fine.

Totally the answer!!!

I'm female, but I was the same. I knew I was straight, but not a single specific boy interested me at all until I was a junior in high school (and he didn't even interest me all that much).

Same here. I went to an all girls' HS and couldn't understand why my classmates were so boy crazy. I could've lived without them for a long time.

[Anonymous]

My 10th grader isn't there yet! At least that I know of.

[Anonymous]

My son is in fourth grade and some of his friends already have crushes, while others are nowhere near. He is in the latter group, and doesn't quite get it.

[Anonymous]

My 11 year old has gone in phases. Like the PP, at age 5 DS was fascinated in a, dare I say, pre-sexual way by breasts. And not just curious, like he'd be curious about a species of snake he'd never seen or an Air-Space exhibit. He was really "into" boobs :/

Then he went through a long phase of disinterest, coupled with a bunch of stereotypically effeminate behaviors and instense "boy love." I kind of assumed he would tell us he gay someday around puberty.

Now in 6th, he's suddenly into females again and is curious about sex with females. Of course I know this because he somehow was Googling porn And he has a female love interest that he works hard to hide from me, so I don't think it's just posturing.

So I dunno what think. Clearly, I just want to keep him away from porn and ensure that he is not bullied if, in fact, he is gay.