Three boys - They all started showing an interest in girls at about 11. The youngest (20 now) is gay. He had a girlfriend in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, my 10 year old was constantly watching porn on his ipad so I guess I'd say 10 years old

That's an interest in sex.

If all the searches are for "naked women masturbating" and "big breasts" and "girl sex to make you orgasm" I'd say it's an interest in girls

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 high-schoolers. Oldest son had a girlfriend in 9th-10th grade. Second son is finishing up 10th grade, and he has shown no interest in girls. They live in such a different world than we did - even pre-COVID. I'm really afraid this generation as a group will have fewer children and marriages / long-term partnerships than ours.

Why are you afraid? Unless having kids and marriage becomes more equitable than I am not encouraging marriage or kids. Women still get the raw deal.

Anonymous wrote:Well, my 10 year old was constantly watching porn on his ipad so I guess I'd say 10 years old

That's an interest in sex.

My late bloomer was obviously interested in girls in 8th grade but never had a girlfriend until senior year.

His BFF, got her best friend to kiss him in 8th grade because she was worried about him going to HS and never kissed a girl.

My other son… 7th grade was girl crazy.

Well, my 10 year old was constantly watching porn on his ipad so I guess I'd say 10 years old

Girls?!! No. Other boys...since 2nd grade.

For my 19 year old son it was 2 years ago when his best friend since pre k became his girlfriend. They were inseparable as kids, hanging out and having sleepovers at each other's house constantly, so in the back of our mind we suspected they might end up dating when they were older. They were never anything other than BFFs before being HS juniors, they're still together 2 years later.

My almost 15 year old has shown no outward interest in girls. He has a tight group of about 6 friends and none of them have "girlfriends". They just play endless sports.
I do think that the pandemic really slowed down their social maturity: these kids go to public school and were fully virtual for 18 months of middle school! They saw each other but that was about it.

There was never a point in my high school life that I would have ever discussed those types of interests with my parents.

Anonymous wrote:At 12. He suddenly spent 20 minutes in the bathroom doing his hair.

That's interest in himself. May or not be interested in girls, FYI.

My son is nearly 15 and has shown zero interest in girls. Last year he told me he thinks he's bisexual, but he won't discuss it with us anymore. Lots of his friends had girlfriends starting in 8th grade, but my son is a bit of a late bloomer.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my. My 9 yr old has been crushing on a girl at school for at least a yr or two. He told me she is the most beautiful girl in the world. A serious Casanova.

Oh my! Thanks for sharing, grandmom!

My boys had crushes in elementary and middle school, but I haven't heard a peep about girls since about age 14. One exception, due to COVID, at one point last year my youngest mentioned that he hadn't had a face to face conversation with a girl in 10 months!!!!! Makes it tough to form a crush.

6th grade.

Luckily it taught him some lessons, and he decided he wasn't into the drama so he cooled it after that. Didn't really date until he was 17. He did boy-girl groups before that, but no real one-on-one dates until he was 17.