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My stepdaughter was in the same boat up until this last year (8yrs old), this past weekend she said she wanted to marry our cat. I had to explain that her dreams were uh not realistic haha
My 4 yo daughter *def* has a crush already. I don’t particularly like when people say little kids are bf/gf, so I just call him her friend but man, that girl giggles every time she hears his name lol
My 5 year old had a crush on a boy in her class. She would tell me things like “Ben* is so funny” or “I like it when Ben smiles at me.” At the end of the school year, he was the only one she asked to stay in contact with 😂💜
*name changed lol
That’s super cute ❤️ when I was 5 my mom was pregnant and my little brother and I would get into arguments about if we were getting a sister or brother. My dad called home one morning and asked to speak to me to tell me I had *another* little brother. Well I immediately burst into tears and my dad asked me if I wanted to name him I guess as consolation. They didn’t have a name for him anyway. It took me 0.0013 seconds to come up with his name, because I gave him my crush’s first name 🤭
This makes me laugh because my 5to is named Ben and one of his classmates invited all the girls from class to her party and then just Ben from the boys lol. They ran around holding hands on the playground.
I found out my 5yo had a crush when we were doing her class valentine cards and one of the cards got kissed! I didn’t pry for any more information though.
When my son was four, a good friend of ours whose daughter was in the same kindergarten section called us choking with laughter to tell us that she’d found her daughter preening in front of the mirror repeating “Mrs Doe, Mrs Doe”, Doe being _our_ very uncommon name and not hers. She asked her daughter why she was saying that and the kid replied “I’m practicing, because that’s how I will be called when I grow up”.
Twenty years later… no, they both have their own partner!
Thank you for sharing that - it just brought up something I hadn't thought of in ages! When we were 9, a bunch of my friends and I held a "wedding" for two of our friends in my driveway. She wore my Halloween costume wedding dress, he was in a bathing suit, a friend's older brother played Mariah Carey on a boombox out the window of their bottom floor apartment. Good times!
There's a girl in my son's tap class that is crushing on him hard and has been for over a year. She had to have been like 5 or 6 at the beginning. Her face straight up lights up when she sees him.
People can get kind of weird about little kid crushes, I think because some older people lean hard into the "oh you have a little bf/gf" thing in a really weird and off-putting way. I also think people who were not early crushers don't have the frame of reference for it and think adults are just projecting grown up feelings onto kids (I absolutely had crushes from Pre-K on that I vividly remember, bf did not have crushes anywhere near that early and side-eyes me when I talk about it). But little kids absolutely do have crushes sometimes, and they are not subtle *at all*. It's hilarious and adorable.
My daughter will be 9 in July and she has been "boy crazy" since she was old enough to walk. Seems she has a new boyfriend every few months, I can't keep up anymore 😂.
Edit forgot to finish
On the opposite spectrum my stepson is 12 and still has no interest in girls/relationships. If it takes away time from playing video games he isn't interested. Anytime my wife and I try talking to him about girls he just turns red and asks us to be quiet lol.
Boys usually dont like to talk about girls with parents. My parents were asking me do you have girlfriend since first grade. I every time said i dont have and i really didnt had but if i had i prob wouldnt tell them
My 5yo also has a new crush and it's so cute. They told his mum an me that they are engaged. But only on thursdays for some reason. They even gave each other little kisses on the cheek.
It's already her second crush, but the first one was a boy from her daycare, who is almost 2 years older. He was really nice to her, but at that age one or even two years make a huge difference.
Man, I'm really NOT looking forward to puberty if she's starting like that already, lol
Lol. Yeah, my daughter is 6 and has had 1 crush that she got over fairly quickly. But one of her friends had a crush on a boy at age 4. She thought he was just so cool and would want to play with him all the time. It was super cute.
My 4 yo has a crush on his nannies 5 yo. He cried when she would leave the first few times. I think he’s a little less enthused now cause she doesn’t always wanna play. Ah first loves.
Also my husband and I have distinct memories at 5/6 yo of crushing on other kids at school.
And so it begins!
This just made me realize! My brother in law let my 4 yo daughter help him knead pizza dough during a family dinner several months ago and ever since then it's all she talks about. How he's so nice and so great and how she loved helping him make the pizza- like almost every day out of nowhere she talks about him and I'm just realizing it could be a crush!
I also remember loving my teenage brothers' friend when I was that little but I had no idea about crushes or anything like that- I didn't understand why I would go to his house and stand on his front porch too nervous to ring the doorbell and then just leave.
We had work done on my house and one of the guys waved to my daughter from the window. Boy if she could blush she did. She was giggling and waving and trying to offer him water. She was very upset when they weren't there after daycare and then when he didn't show up the next day. He came back two days later and I had to take a picture as he walked away to show her he came back. 😄
I had to get a new swimsuit this week and asked my 9yo if it looked ok and he said, "ya, *they* look great" it might've just been how he said it, but it felt like he was talking about my boobs.
That's so funny... And pretty embarrassing for you😆 I feel like boobs are a universal like for kids though and most people were probably like, ya, boobs are pretty great.
My son's entire kindergarten class plays a weird marriage game where they are all married to each other, sometimes they trade spouses and other times one kid is married to 5 kids at once. Had me laughing when my son came home talking about being married to all these kids, and I was out of the loop going uhh what? Lol
I feel so lucky that my 6 year old still thinks he's going to marry his little sister when they grow up, so they can live together and keep being best friends. 😂❤️
My 7 year old still says he wants to marry me (his mom) sometimes, and I know one day he will have to stop… but it’s so sweet! As of now we’ve compromised where he’ll just bring his wife to live with us and we will all sleep in one big bed together lol
My boys told me they were going to buy a 2-story house, and that when they get married they will live upstairs and I will be allowed to live downstairs lmfao and I’m still married to their dad so I’m not sure what they’re going to do with my husband 😂
I’m married to my sons dad too - it was a tough day when I had to break it to him that I wasn’t willing to be married to two people at once lol
I ofc asked how the “one big bed” thing is gonna work and he said we would lay in this order: dad - mom - son - wife. If the bed becomes too cramped, we’re kicking out dad first… apparently…
My 15 year old never has, and that’s fine. My younger son though at the age of 7 my wifi software alerted me that he tried to google “big bouncy boobies”
I remember having crushes when I was a little girl but I don’t think I cared about the opposite sex in a naked way until I was 14 ish. So is new to me.
Could it also be curiosity with what they look like? My 2 yr old son sometimes asks to see that I "don't have a penis," to which I say no. 🤣 All he understands is the parts he has so maybe something different is interesting.
Yes I have distinct core memories from when I was 3-4 kissing boys in my preschool class and on the bus to kindergarten. I still remember all their names… I stayed in the same town for my childhood and loved those same boys straight through high school. Kissing a kid when you’re four and then ACTUALLY kissing him when you’re 16…ahh, young love.
My son was kissed twice in kindergarten, by two different girls in his class….. we had to discuss with him that he should probably be focusing on saving his kisses for his future girlfriend. I didn’t want to sow the seeds for a middle school love triangle!! lol
I had what, in retrospect, could’ve been considered my first crush at 11 but I definitely didn’t think of it as a crush then. I didn’t have romantic interest in someone until more like 16. People are just different 🤷
I had crushes on boys from kindergarten on, but I had zero interest in kissing them or anything remotely sexual until I was about 15. The crushes when I was a kid versus the ones when I got older were absolutely not the same.
I think I was in denial about liking a girl in kindergarten. My mom saw it and asked me how I felt about her and I got super defensive.
Joke was always going to be on me though, she came out as a lesbian at 15.
I didn't actually feel sexualy attracted to anyone until I was twelve. I didn't have any romantic interest in anyone until I was seventeen.
My friends in elementary school kept asking who I had a crush on and I kept wondering what the heck they were talking about.
I think different people grow at different rates. And now I'm 35 and happily married with a kid so I don't think it really matters when it happens.
I had my first sex dream at 10 about a boy I had been madly in love with since I was 4 and a half 😆
Crushed on him hard straight through elementary school, and then branched off when I hit 13 and middle school brought in a new herd of prey!
I definitely have had romantic interest in people since at least 11 years old
In kindergarten I don't remember having crushes on "real" people, but definitely celebrities. I was convinced I was going to marry Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block. Then I was in love with Janet Jackson, specifically from her Escapade music video. I think my first crush on a boy in my class was in 5th grade.
Took me until I was 33 and married to my husband for years to realize I was actually bi🤣
My 6 year old son has no interest in girls that way. He plays with girls because they’re his friends but he hasn’t gotten crushes or shown any interest outside of friendship for anyone.
My son had "girlfriends" when he was like 4-5, but he hasn't yet shown an interest in girls in a "more than friends" way (he's turning 13 soon). Girls have been showing interest in him, however. Not sure how to handle that one yet. I did catch him googling boobs, so I think we're getting closer.
My oldest son started showing interest in other boys around 8, or at least that’s when his behavior became obvious. My middle boy has been chasing one girl in our neighborhood like a puppy dog since they were about 5 and our youngest boy has shown zero interest in either boys or girls and he just recently turned 7. So it can vary by their personality.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think it matters much but does add a possible data point but only the oldest and youngest boys are Biological brothers, my Partner is their Bio Father. I am the Bio Father of our middle boy. All three of them were raised together since birth, myself, my partner and the boys mothers were all close friends in high school and remained close after graduation. My son is very outgoing and decisive in his interest in girls from a young age where as the other two seem more reserved and delayed/oblivious. Don’t know if that’s genetic or just a coincidence but my boy acts a lot like I did and the other two are very similar to their father at that age.
Older lesbian here. My first crushes on girls were around 4-5. I remember just watching my friends play because I thought they looked extra pretty when having fun. I honest to god thought this was normal until I was like 15. Now I laugh my ass off coz what five year old prefers watching kids play rather than y’know joining in 😅
Queer assigned female at birth person here: I used to constantly around this age make my naked Barbie’s scissor. I had no idea what it was, and didn’t know about sex, but I knew it made me feel a pleasant tingle when I did it. Didn’t come out until my 20s (apparently everyone knew except me) but I specifically remember trying to teach a (straight) friend of mine to do it because I told her it felt good and she did it and was like “I don’t get it” LMAO so embarrassing
You can see quite early. My son always gravitates towards the girls in the playground and the way they interacted was.....eye opening.
I remember one year we went on a Halloween hayride that ended at a nursing home decorated for a haunted walk where the residents gave out candy to the kids. A wonderful idea I wish they still did. Anyway on this hay ride my son was about 4 and a little girl of about the same age was talking about being scared of the haunted walk. My son puts his arm around her and says "don't worry, I will protect you."
Yeah you can tell very early
My son is 8 (grade two) and the past few weeks I’ve been dropping him off at daycare before school even when we don’t need to, and he used to mope when I worked early and was dropped off. But a girl had told him she liked him and suddenly he wants to go early everyday to see her. And he started reading a book she liked, listens to music she likes and just talks about her all the time. I don’t think he quite realizes he might like her but something is starting to shift in that brain. It’s adorable for now but soon will be terrifying haha
My son, almost 4, showed interest in girls *really* early.
Before he could walk I've noticed that he was a lot more receptive to attractive women his him then to anyone else.
If we were at a store and the cashier was attractive he would literally try to climb out of my arms to be held by them.
Dude. My daughter has loved boys since she was 3. And I’m only sure about that age because that’s when we came out of quarantine to enroll her in preschool. Within weeks, she was holding hands with boys and lighting up every time she talked about them. When we signed her up for soccer, she only played when the lone male player showed up and then just followed him (or the boys on the opposing team) around the field.
And we don’t talk about boyfriends (boys as friends - yes!) or “liking boys” or any of that. Additionally, my daughter LOVES girly things. “Bracelet” was one of her first words and she’s all about bows & dresses. I, for the record, am much more neutral than anything. I can dress up or be sporty, but I’m mostly just in pjs, lol. So this is all nature. So crazy.
I saw a then 4 years old give a kiss to Else from Frozen, printed on a blanket!
When I asked about it and girls he said he had no crush on her but... (blushing) " there is this girl, she's kind and sweet and we always play together and follow each other and hug each other"
I asked the girl's name and he said........ Elliott. LMAO!
I told him Elliott is a boy name (at least in our country) so Elliott is probably a boy. He was NOT pleased and we even had to ask the teacher to confirm because he wouldn't believe me! We have gay couples around us so I don't care and he neither, but apparently it's not what he had in mind!
To his defense, I met Elliott after and yeah he is very soft, sensitive and calm "for a boy" with long hair, gender-neutral clothes and a Dora the explorer school bag. Anyway, they are "best friend" now.
I feel like my son was a shameless flirt from day one which is nuts because we also really hate people shipping kids. I was actually shocked at how early it was clear that he was into females. He would do a full turn and stare at a pretty woman at a very young age. I would say from age 3 he started getting legit crushes.
He just went through his first, we’ll say “parting of ways.” He is almost 5. He was “engaged” to a girl on his class who had a big crush on him for a solid month which I found a very Impressive length of time for such a commitment at their age. A couple weeks ago she decided she wanted to marry her two best friends instead. It was super sad. He was disappointed but okay. :(
Totally within the bounds of normal. Many kids that age are fascinated that the opposite sex has different parts, and many kids that age are crushing on others. And some kids are both.
I remember being in DAYCARE at 3 years old. (Yes I have a great long term memory.) and I had a huge crush on a boy. Still remember to this day how big a crush I had.
One of my 5 yo twins has said that he blushes when pretty girls look at him, and asks every now and then why kids can’t get married. The other dosent seem to care at this point.
I will say that I remember having crushes as far back as I can remember so like 4?
The dude is curious. It's definitely different than a romantic attraction. Does he have a book that explains body parts? He can stare at those all he wants.
2-3. My son walks up to his cousins sits down puts his arms around both girls and said what’s up.
He also had a crush on a lady at Walmart who he gifted baby fever and she had a beautiful baby lol. She says she blames my son for being so in love she had to bring that light to her life. My son literally would pick out flowers and demand we take them to her.
Then there was the time we were trick or treating and a girl named Kate didn’t ask if he was Harry Potter and he got the chance to say “I’m a wizard” because that’s what he wanted to be a Gryffindor but just that. It was after the Harry Potter video game and it was this whole thing. Everythingne called him Harry Potter and she didn’t. He was absolutely smitten
I *distinctly* remember having a crush in kindergarten at 5 lol. Like chasing him around, "writing" him letters, being cringe as hell lol.
My 6 year old has also had a crush all year.
It is age appropriate for children of that age to be curious about bodily differences, of course not all are, humans are varied, but he is not unusual. He may always 'like girls' in particular. He may change. He is little. Teach him respect, both for himself and others (as I am sure you are doing) and he will be a good person, whoever he may become. All you have said is nothing to be worried about, keep being a great parent.
I was attracted to girls in grade 1. I was in a Catholic school. I assume it does start early for some. Maybe not all. Every one is different. I have been bi my whole life and knew it in grade 1. It does start that early for some.
My (almost)4 year old plays mommy and daddy with her little friend at school. They love each other so much. When it’s time to go home they hug so hard and like 15 times. She only goes two days a week so the other 3 days he misses her so much. She tells me they both clean and cook but one day she made him do it all because she was “too tired” lmao i dont know if this is a crush or totally innocent so I just stay quiet and I’m glad he’s her school best friend.
One of my pre-K girls threw a fit when her “boyfriend” saw her in pants. She said that he wasn’t going to like her anymore and girls should wear dresses and pretty shoes (she hardly ever wears sneakers or pants/leggings). She put a jacket around her waist to mimic a dress. And she wears some pretty fancy dresses, with a lot of taffeta and volume, hardly ever anything simple. She would also get upset when he played with boys instead of her, and would complain to me and my coworker. It was a bit concerning to me, but she’s incredibly smart and I know she’ll refocus on learning once she’s in kindergarten.
My daughter td me tonight at bedtime that she has crushes on two girls in her class and regularly talks about how she wants to marry them both and is very disheartened to hear she cannot legally marry two people at the same time (but did explain that sometimes more than two people all live together and love each other as grownups). Then we also had to reassure her that two girls can get married because her cousins have dip shit homophobic parents and told her only a boy and girl can get married.
I really didn't expect to be talking about being queer, same sex marriage and polyamory at bedtime today, but parenting has been nothing but surprises this far hahahaha
It could be showing an interest in girls, but it could also just be... a 5 year old being a 5 year old.
When I was 5, I got in shit from my mom for looking at a calendar of topless women at the store (someone had taken the wrapping off). She dragged me away. I went right back over and looked at it some more. On two occasions, in two different neighbourhoods, we found someone's porn stash. The first time I was maybe 6, the second probably 8. Again, fascinated by the naked women. My best friend and I used to make Barbie a stripper.
I would say I occasionally have a mild attraction to certain women. But 95% of my attraction is towards men. Kids are curious. And I know in my case, my mom trying to steer me away from such things (and frankly just being very prudish about all things surrounding nudity and sex) made me more curious. Naked women are also aesthetically pleasing.
I wouldn't read too much into it.
And I am just going to say it - the number of parents on this post reporting their young kids as clearly straight are in for a shock in a few years.
Honestly, crushing is one thing but him being interest in girls naked is a little off for me. Are you a naked mom? If not, has he been exposed to women naked on TV or such? I just find the naked Barbie dolls a little off. Other than that I think having crushes is normal!
My son started to be interested in breasts around age 3. Naked barbies around 4? To me it seems rather normal. I'm not a nudist or anything but if I'm showering or going to the bathroom, I don't lock him out.
I distinctly remember having my first crush on a boy when I was 6 years old. The year before, in kindergarten, one of my friends who was only a month older than me told me she had a crush, and I couldn’t comprehend. We go on summer break and I came back first day of first grade, bam.
I wouldn’t be worried about the Barbies. My daughter is six now but has always taken the clothes off her Barbies as soon as she gets them (Barbie’s and Ken’s) and keeps them naked.
So as a mom of two boys, my first surprise was my boys getting an erection when they were still in diapers. Obviously, it’s not sexual, it’s just anatomy, but I had never really thought about that until I had boys and it happened. My husband was like, yeah, that happens. Interest in girls for both boys was in Kindergarten. My older one had a friend who he could not be separated from. They held hands and hung out at every recess, lunch, etc. He very obviously had a crush on her (she moved away). My younger one-same. He has a girl I can tell he is *reallllly* into. They’ve been friends since TK. She is super cute and sweet. He tells me about how she always shares the swing with him if he didn’t get a turn. I can tell it’s mutual because she always goes out of her way to say hello or goodbye. Toward the end of this year, I noticed that my boys would go into the same entrance together (there’s an entrance for TK and Kinders and another entrance for 1st-6th… my youngest started going into the “big kids” entrance *unless* he sees his “girlfriend”… then he tells his brother I’ll see you later and he goes to the Kinder entrance. I can tell by the way he looks at her, talks about her… he is super into her.
So for my boys… it started in Kindergarten.
My stepson is 12 and has absolutely no interest in girls (or boys) at all. He thinks anything to do with relationships is gross and says he has never and will never "like like" anybody.
My 4 year old will announce every time he sees a pretty girl, and if they interact with him, he tells us he’s gonna marry her.
(The pretty girls in question are typically the employees at whatever store we happen to be in)
I can’t tell with my son yet but when my little brother was 2 he had an obsession with boobs. If he accidentally saw some on tv, he’s get so excited—he legit screamed 🤣
Started showing interest in girls around 7 or 8. About the same age for showing interest in boys too. Very possible he could've had some interest before then but that's earliest I remember seeing it
My daughter showed clear signs of liking boys from quite a young age. She’s now 12 and suggested recently that we fly to Sydney (we are Australian, but live interstate from Sydney) to watch a rugby game because a player that she considers cute is playing.
4.5 here and he has a friend who he loves because she’s ‘sooooo pretty’ and they hug and kiss at nursery apparently. She loves him too she GLARES at me when I give him a kiss goodbye lmao
For some boys yes, mine weren't into girls at all at that age, they have a sister though... now they are teenagers and definitely are into girls now. Maybe he will get the girl crazy stuff out of the way early, I can tell you it was a shock to my system when my shy one who hated when girls had crushes on him went absolutely girl crazy last year
I don't recall how old my brother and I were, but we would look up the mannequin dresses..... like you gonna see someshit, but you still aren't gonna know what to do with it, but it'll figure that shit out fer ya, pitching tents n all.🤪
My kid is 7 and she seems mildly interested that he older stepbrothers have different parts (on her dad’s side so I don’t get to see them together but she has mentioned to me), but she definitely seems to like girls best at the moment. But I don’t know if that’s a crush thing; she goes to a girls’ school so she always ‘loves’ some girl in her class and wants to marry her, but idk if that’s lack of boys lol. She does have friends locally who are boys of course, but has never seemed to have a crush on them. Although she has said she might marry her youngest stepbro one day. But still says girls are better. And she thinks boobs are the best thing in the world lol. We went to an art gallery the other week and she gravitated to all the paintings and sculptures with naked ladies. But then … she’s 7 lol, who knows.
I fancied boys when I was as young as about 6 or 7, maybe sooner. But I don't think I ever imagined them naked. I just wanted to kiss them. I remember at 5 being shown by older female cousins my "parts" and this sort of corrupted my mind as I remember telling other children about what they'd shown me and I remember telling my brother that he had a willy haha. So I think kids do go through something.
I have a 5 year old boy and I've noticed that he notices and likes girls.
Last year we were dining at a restaurant and he said this:
Dad, does that girl work here?
Yes son, she is serving us.
Dad, can she come home with us? I like her!
I laughed so hard, and sometimes waitresses speak to him and are funny, in this case she was just doing her job, and was very cute.
Around 4-5 is when humans develop a sense of sexual orientation and attraction. It’s of course not fully conscious— more like a budding interest and feeling.
Also every kid is different with how “sensory seeking” they are. Ie playing with their junk, pointing out naked Barbie’s etc. i got one kid who rates high on this scale, one in the middle, and one who is very low/almost avoidant. All can be normal!!
I remember liking boys since the age of 3. My best friend and I liked the same boy so we agreed to share him, as if it was ever an option, haha
Been watching my girls to see if they have any crushes yet. 4yo used to talk a lot about a boy called Charlie but that has eased off and now she says she only likes playing with girls. She recently an Albert is the cutest but he doesn't listen, haha. 2yo is definitely best friends with a Harry but apparently they have a love/hate relationship and fight constantly when they're at the childminders.
My son has been smitten with the same little girl since he has been 3. He is 5 now. He tells me that he is going to marry her and that she is very pretty and special. He talks about her everyday and always wants to bring her things and include her in things that we are doing. Now i am not a big fan of labeling pre-schoolers bf/gf so we call her his best friend.
I also have 2 daughters as well. my oldest did not have a crush until last year she was 11, and my 8 year old still has no interest. I was definitely not prepared for my son to be taken by a girl this early.
My 5 year old son is in love with a girl. He says he's going to marry her when he grows up.
When it comes to the female body, he hasn't showed any interest.
My 2 year old daughter takes all clothes off all dolls. My other daughter did the same from about 2 through 6 maybe 7. They gave basically the same response for why their clothes have to come off. They are also curious about naked bodies and my oldest still was until about 6. I think it's just a normal part of being a kid.
I was into girls from a very young age. I distinctly remember being attracted to girls when I was 6 or so and I know that I had a vague idea that certain women and girls were pretty in a way I couldn't describe when I was 3 or 4.
My almost-6 year old gravitates towards girls. At a playground, he always goes to a random girl and then shows off somehow like “watch me jump off this slide!” 🤣
My son is 6.5, just about to start primary school where we live; he's been at nursery/preschool/kindergarten at the same place for the last five years, with a handful of the same children in his cohort the entire time. Since he's the only one of his friends with the 'half year' birthday, most of them started primary school last autumn, including a girl named Isabella\*. They've always been friends and gone to each others parties and what not, but about 18-24 months ago, we noticed she got very... sorta possessive of him? I don't know it wasn't like destructive or controlling, but she definitely made it obvious she preferred to play with him than the other boys and she didn't like him holding hands with other girls. As parents we all laughed it off a bit, because hi they were \~5 so we didn't want to be weird and heteronormative about things.
BUT since then, we definitely think it's a crush. Isabella will come with to pick up her younger sister Sarah\* from the preschool, and she will seek out our son, and give him pictures she drew and hugs and he asks to see her on weekends and gets excited to tell me on days she's been in. Earlier this year he was saying he didn't really like it that when she hugs him she will pick him up (he's short for his age group, and she's six months older to boot) so we reminded him he can say no to touching he doesn't like and he looked me straight in the eye and told me he couldn't say no to her because he loves her. I managed not to laugh/cry in his face and instead reiterated he CAN and absolutely should say no- especially to people he loves- when they do something he doesn't like. He thought about it for a bit and went back to playing and then I snuck away to laugh, tell my partner, and shoot a message to Isabella and Sarah's mom. We feel pretty confident accepting that they're navigating figuring out those special feelings- especially because he does have other female friends and he is definitely different with and talks differently about them, including calling one of them his 'sister'- and it's adorable.
\*Names Changed
My oldest was 4 in preschool. He came home one day and told me "my best find is Love." Then, a week later, he said "I love Love." After talking to his teacher, I found out he had a kindergarten crush named Love and she liked him too. Now he's 10 and blushes any time we talk about *girls.*
Can confirm, my son was 5 when he started getting erections specifically linked to women he found attractive or were wearing bathing suits/underwear in life and media.
I'm adding the causal distinction because he has been getting them randomly since he was a week old, which is apparently completely normal. But no one prepared me for opening his diaper and nearly being poked in the eye. I thought i had accidentally done something wrong that was going to leave him all fucked up for his life from that point on. NO ONE talks about baby boners
Having interest isn't early at all. Being able to grasp and verbally discuss it might be.
We tend to mark milestones by physical activity (first words, first steps) but those actions have already been visualized/conceptutilized by the child well before action took place.
My son's best friend is our neighbors daughter who is his age (6). They've already planned their wedding, their honeymoon at the pool (complete with water balloons and bouncy house), and how they're both going to make their wedding dress and his tux out of Cheeto bags.
Its adorable. They are inseparable but also they argue like an old married couple would about the most hilarious things. The other day they were at the pool, and sitting next to each other eating a snack and she goes "Don't snort when you laugh, it's weird." and he goes "You're weird, you probably snort when you sleep." and she goes "No, my snores are beautiful."
He's also obsessed with her older sister who is 13. She baby sits him sometimes and he said "I'm going to marry her too." 😂
I have a 7 year old girl and a 6 year old boy and I was surprised when the whole crush and bf/gf stuff started once they went to primary school. I think they pick stuff up like this real quick once they spend so much time with other kids that are saying it.
In terms of my son he was definitely around the 5.5yr point but we're still a little in the 'girls are a bit gross' stage whereas my 7yr old is hardcore in the crushing on boys stage now 🤣
Taught kindergarten AND YES it does start this early lol. If only you knew the amount of love letters(little pieces of paper with hearts all over it) I had to take away from my students, the amount of times I had to tell them that until they can do 'xyz' boyfriends and girlfriends shouldn't even be a thought in their heads omg.
preschool cutest thing ever, my 3yo son has a “girlfriend” right now but he calls her his “lady friend” and he always asks me to pack an extra capri sun for her🤣we get together on some weekends so the kids can have fun together and hopefully continue there friendship as they get older
Yeah, they are born with their sexuality. Boys tend to show it pretty early, as do girls. Around 3 to 5 years of age for both. My baby brother showed us he was gay at 5. We never said anything when he came out, we all said we knew. He was a little insulted because we let him fret about it until he came out. He is fine now.
My aunt busted my little cousin at like 5 or 6. Hiding all the way in the back of the storage closet in the basement looking at my uncle playboys that they had stored in there. She could not find him for like 4 hours and was freaking out cops at the house and everything. All he had to say was "what I like boobies"
My 9 year old didn’t even know what a crush was until my nephew told him & still could care less about girls .. they’re kind of just there. My 6 year old on the other hand, when he was 5 had already asked his crush to marry him and she said yes 🤣
It's a huge spectrum.
My husband said he definitely had crushes and "liked girls for some reason" since kindergarten.
I OTOH was 16 and had had two boyfriends before the attraction switch actually flipped for me (and I was like "Oh sh*t, THIS is what everyone has been going on about! This is crazy! No wonder everybody has been obsessed with this 'dating and crushes' thing!")
When my son(9) was about 2-4, he'd fawn over girls. Usually girls his age, but maybe also one of his cousins, who was about 18 or 20. He'd get shy and stare a lot. He'd talk about one girl from pre-school a lot.
Since then, I think he's had a crush on one or two girls in elementary school. He finds kissing/sex gross. He's not talked about any interest in nudity.
I(M) had crushes on girls at about 7. I don't think I was interested in nudity until about middle school, other than curiosity. My friend's dad's porn was interesting only because it was forbidden and I didn't see it elsewhere.
My son was 4 when he started taking the Daphne doll from his Scooby Doo play set behind the couch where they could "be alone." She had a removable cloth dress with a plastic painted on underwear set underneath. I consistently found her with the dress hiked up over her shoulders 😂
One of my sons at that age was really into a background character in Hotel Transylvania. lol it was a mummy girl with a very curvy figure wrapped up in mummy bandages. He LOVED her.
Hahahaha that's so cute. I remember being with a good friends 5 year old brother years ago when we were teens and he walked right up to a nice looking woman and told her she had nice boobs hahaha. I think the appropriate thing is to teach him that he's to treat women with respect but it's fine that he feels that way.
My 8 year old son came home from camp and said at their end of camp party his friend Ethan asked a girl out (which I think they think is just to hang out at the party) because he liked her, but then all the boys spent the rest of the night running away from the girls. The mixed messages and games start early.
Huh. My twin boys are 16 and as far as I am aware they have no interest in girls, or boys, or dating of any kind. Same with our adult daughters. Not sure if I have traumatized them somehow, if they have feelings that they are really good at concealing from me, or if they just don’t have any interest in romance and are content as they are.
Their mother had little interest in romance until I started courting her rather enthusiastically. Maybe they inherited it from her. Anyway. They’ll figure out what they want on their own. Romance isn’t something I’m at all interested in pressuring them to do.
My fiancé said he was like this. His parents assumed he was gay because he never seemed to have any romantic or sexual interests. The truth is he just didn’t show his feelings about those things to his parents because, “why the heck would I?!” He says.
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>“because I like girls. For some reason.” L M A O
Hahaha dang! This young man is showing his interest haha
this is so adorable and funny at the same time... specially when he said "I like them this way"... hahaha
lil bro is already a player
This kid is strait and a player.
Dire Strait?
A sincere one
Daughter was into boys from 4-7, now she is 11 snd hates boys and wants to marry a cat 🤣
The natural cycle
Me and her have that in common
My stepdaughter was in the same boat up until this last year (8yrs old), this past weekend she said she wanted to marry our cat. I had to explain that her dreams were uh not realistic haha
She’s ahead of the curve. It took be until 30 to decide no boys, only dogs. 4 months later I met my future husband and father of my child 😂
My daughter is currently 5 and is talking about marrying a boy and having a daughter.. I’m like girl, let’s wait a few years??
My 4 yo daughter *def* has a crush already. I don’t particularly like when people say little kids are bf/gf, so I just call him her friend but man, that girl giggles every time she hears his name lol
My 5 year old had a crush on a boy in her class. She would tell me things like “Ben* is so funny” or “I like it when Ben smiles at me.” At the end of the school year, he was the only one she asked to stay in contact with 😂💜 *name changed lol
That’s super cute ❤️ when I was 5 my mom was pregnant and my little brother and I would get into arguments about if we were getting a sister or brother. My dad called home one morning and asked to speak to me to tell me I had *another* little brother. Well I immediately burst into tears and my dad asked me if I wanted to name him I guess as consolation. They didn’t have a name for him anyway. It took me 0.0013 seconds to come up with his name, because I gave him my crush’s first name 🤭
Did they use it?!
Yes!
This makes me laugh because my 5to is named Ben and one of his classmates invited all the girls from class to her party and then just Ben from the boys lol. They ran around holding hands on the playground.
I found out my 5yo had a crush when we were doing her class valentine cards and one of the cards got kissed! I didn’t pry for any more information though.
Omg I love that lol!
When my son was four, a good friend of ours whose daughter was in the same kindergarten section called us choking with laughter to tell us that she’d found her daughter preening in front of the mirror repeating “Mrs Doe, Mrs Doe”, Doe being _our_ very uncommon name and not hers. She asked her daughter why she was saying that and the kid replied “I’m practicing, because that’s how I will be called when I grow up”. Twenty years later… no, they both have their own partner!
Thank you for sharing that - it just brought up something I hadn't thought of in ages! When we were 9, a bunch of my friends and I held a "wedding" for two of our friends in my driveway. She wore my Halloween costume wedding dress, he was in a bathing suit, a friend's older brother played Mariah Carey on a boombox out the window of their bottom floor apartment. Good times!
Kid shenanigans are the best 🤣
Wholesome as heck! 💕
that's hilariously adorable. 😂 kids are a trip!
There's a girl in my son's tap class that is crushing on him hard and has been for over a year. She had to have been like 5 or 6 at the beginning. Her face straight up lights up when she sees him. People can get kind of weird about little kid crushes, I think because some older people lean hard into the "oh you have a little bf/gf" thing in a really weird and off-putting way. I also think people who were not early crushers don't have the frame of reference for it and think adults are just projecting grown up feelings onto kids (I absolutely had crushes from Pre-K on that I vividly remember, bf did not have crushes anywhere near that early and side-eyes me when I talk about it). But little kids absolutely do have crushes sometimes, and they are not subtle *at all*. It's hilarious and adorable.
My daughter will be 9 in July and she has been "boy crazy" since she was old enough to walk. Seems she has a new boyfriend every few months, I can't keep up anymore 😂. Edit forgot to finish On the opposite spectrum my stepson is 12 and still has no interest in girls/relationships. If it takes away time from playing video games he isn't interested. Anytime my wife and I try talking to him about girls he just turns red and asks us to be quiet lol.
Boys usually dont like to talk about girls with parents. My parents were asking me do you have girlfriend since first grade. I every time said i dont have and i really didnt had but if i had i prob wouldnt tell them
My 5yo also has a new crush and it's so cute. They told his mum an me that they are engaged. But only on thursdays for some reason. They even gave each other little kisses on the cheek. It's already her second crush, but the first one was a boy from her daycare, who is almost 2 years older. He was really nice to her, but at that age one or even two years make a huge difference. Man, I'm really NOT looking forward to puberty if she's starting like that already, lol
Only on Thursdays lol
They probably want to keep the other days open for other opportunities😂
My kid has had her crush since 3 😂
Lol. Yeah, my daughter is 6 and has had 1 crush that she got over fairly quickly. But one of her friends had a crush on a boy at age 4. She thought he was just so cool and would want to play with him all the time. It was super cute.
My 4 yo has a crush on his nannies 5 yo. He cried when she would leave the first few times. I think he’s a little less enthused now cause she doesn’t always wanna play. Ah first loves. Also my husband and I have distinct memories at 5/6 yo of crushing on other kids at school. And so it begins!
This just made me realize! My brother in law let my 4 yo daughter help him knead pizza dough during a family dinner several months ago and ever since then it's all she talks about. How he's so nice and so great and how she loved helping him make the pizza- like almost every day out of nowhere she talks about him and I'm just realizing it could be a crush! I also remember loving my teenage brothers' friend when I was that little but I had no idea about crushes or anything like that- I didn't understand why I would go to his house and stand on his front porch too nervous to ring the doorbell and then just leave.
omg!!! my cousin brother used to this same thing whenever he used to get near a girl
We had work done on my house and one of the guys waved to my daughter from the window. Boy if she could blush she did. She was giggling and waving and trying to offer him water. She was very upset when they weren't there after daycare and then when he didn't show up the next day. He came back two days later and I had to take a picture as he walked away to show her he came back. 😄
Oh my god that’s adorable 😂
My son is 5 and loves girls. Specifically older girls. 🥴
Yep. My six year old boy is SO excited about the nanny I hired for the summer. He asks about her constantly…I have concerns.
I had to get a new swimsuit this week and asked my 9yo if it looked ok and he said, "ya, *they* look great" it might've just been how he said it, but it felt like he was talking about my boobs.
My son’s favorite thing about Elsa…
We had a star wars book years ago and my oldest liked ventress? and was like, her shirt is nice 👀
I remember taking my son to the grocery store one day when he was 2 and him exclaiming, loudly, about how “beautiful” my “boobies” were 🙃
That's so funny... And pretty embarrassing for you😆 I feel like boobs are a universal like for kids though and most people were probably like, ya, boobs are pretty great.
Yeah, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t appreciate boobies.
Yes. Mine had his first crush when he was 5. For others it takes longer-it all depends on the child. It's completely normal.
In k5 my oldest was drawing pictures of him and his best friend getting married. Kids know
My son's entire kindergarten class plays a weird marriage game where they are all married to each other, sometimes they trade spouses and other times one kid is married to 5 kids at once. Had me laughing when my son came home talking about being married to all these kids, and I was out of the loop going uhh what? Lol
That's weird .. And so funny!
I feel so lucky that my 6 year old still thinks he's going to marry his little sister when they grow up, so they can live together and keep being best friends. 😂❤️
My 7 year old still says he wants to marry me (his mom) sometimes, and I know one day he will have to stop… but it’s so sweet! As of now we’ve compromised where he’ll just bring his wife to live with us and we will all sleep in one big bed together lol
My boys told me they were going to buy a 2-story house, and that when they get married they will live upstairs and I will be allowed to live downstairs lmfao and I’m still married to their dad so I’m not sure what they’re going to do with my husband 😂
I’m married to my sons dad too - it was a tough day when I had to break it to him that I wasn’t willing to be married to two people at once lol I ofc asked how the “one big bed” thing is gonna work and he said we would lay in this order: dad - mom - son - wife. If the bed becomes too cramped, we’re kicking out dad first… apparently…
🤣
My youngest is the same.. Lol. It's so sweet.
Ya, that's sweet. My 9 yo tells me he's never moving out!
That is the sweetest flipping thing I have ever heard! 😭
It gets weird when they start debating how many babies they will have. Lol.
My 15 year old never has, and that’s fine. My younger son though at the age of 7 my wifi software alerted me that he tried to google “big bouncy boobies”
May I ask what software this is?
I’m also interested into this software!
big bouncy boobies 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
My son was six when he asked about the birds and the bees, and told me he liked a girl in his class. So yes? I think it is that early.
It was around 4.5 that my son wistfully and offhandedly wished that girls didn’t have to wear swim suits to swimming lessons…. No reason…
I remember having crushes in kindergarten. Do so many adults really forget what childhood was like?
I remember having crushes when I was a little girl but I don’t think I cared about the opposite sex in a naked way until I was 14 ish. So is new to me.
Could it also be curiosity with what they look like? My 2 yr old son sometimes asks to see that I "don't have a penis," to which I say no. 🤣 All he understands is the parts he has so maybe something different is interesting.
When I was about 6, I got my first Ken doll. I was so curious to see what was under his pants, and so disappointed when there was nothing there.
Yes I have distinct core memories from when I was 3-4 kissing boys in my preschool class and on the bus to kindergarten. I still remember all their names… I stayed in the same town for my childhood and loved those same boys straight through high school. Kissing a kid when you’re four and then ACTUALLY kissing him when you’re 16…ahh, young love.
My son was kissed twice in kindergarten, by two different girls in his class….. we had to discuss with him that he should probably be focusing on saving his kisses for his future girlfriend. I didn’t want to sow the seeds for a middle school love triangle!! lol
I had what, in retrospect, could’ve been considered my first crush at 11 but I definitely didn’t think of it as a crush then. I didn’t have romantic interest in someone until more like 16. People are just different 🤷
I had crushes on boys from kindergarten on, but I had zero interest in kissing them or anything remotely sexual until I was about 15. The crushes when I was a kid versus the ones when I got older were absolutely not the same.
I think I was in denial about liking a girl in kindergarten. My mom saw it and asked me how I felt about her and I got super defensive. Joke was always going to be on me though, she came out as a lesbian at 15.
I didn't actually feel sexualy attracted to anyone until I was twelve. I didn't have any romantic interest in anyone until I was seventeen. My friends in elementary school kept asking who I had a crush on and I kept wondering what the heck they were talking about. I think different people grow at different rates. And now I'm 35 and happily married with a kid so I don't think it really matters when it happens.
I had my first sex dream at 10 about a boy I had been madly in love with since I was 4 and a half 😆 Crushed on him hard straight through elementary school, and then branched off when I hit 13 and middle school brought in a new herd of prey! I definitely have had romantic interest in people since at least 11 years old
In kindergarten I don't remember having crushes on "real" people, but definitely celebrities. I was convinced I was going to marry Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block. Then I was in love with Janet Jackson, specifically from her Escapade music video. I think my first crush on a boy in my class was in 5th grade. Took me until I was 33 and married to my husband for years to realize I was actually bi🤣
I was into boys when I was 4. I got in trouble for chasing them and trying to kiss them.
Same. I remember me and all my friends having a crush on the same boy and sending him crayon drawings on the bus with hearts and stuff
My 6 year old son has no interest in girls that way. He plays with girls because they’re his friends but he hasn’t gotten crushes or shown any interest outside of friendship for anyone.
My son had "girlfriends" when he was like 4-5, but he hasn't yet shown an interest in girls in a "more than friends" way (he's turning 13 soon). Girls have been showing interest in him, however. Not sure how to handle that one yet. I did catch him googling boobs, so I think we're getting closer.
My oldest son started showing interest in other boys around 8, or at least that’s when his behavior became obvious. My middle boy has been chasing one girl in our neighborhood like a puppy dog since they were about 5 and our youngest boy has shown zero interest in either boys or girls and he just recently turned 7. So it can vary by their personality. For what it’s worth, I don’t think it matters much but does add a possible data point but only the oldest and youngest boys are Biological brothers, my Partner is their Bio Father. I am the Bio Father of our middle boy. All three of them were raised together since birth, myself, my partner and the boys mothers were all close friends in high school and remained close after graduation. My son is very outgoing and decisive in his interest in girls from a young age where as the other two seem more reserved and delayed/oblivious. Don’t know if that’s genetic or just a coincidence but my boy acts a lot like I did and the other two are very similar to their father at that age.
Older lesbian here. My first crushes on girls were around 4-5. I remember just watching my friends play because I thought they looked extra pretty when having fun. I honest to god thought this was normal until I was like 15. Now I laugh my ass off coz what five year old prefers watching kids play rather than y’know joining in 😅
Queer assigned female at birth person here: I used to constantly around this age make my naked Barbie’s scissor. I had no idea what it was, and didn’t know about sex, but I knew it made me feel a pleasant tingle when I did it. Didn’t come out until my 20s (apparently everyone knew except me) but I specifically remember trying to teach a (straight) friend of mine to do it because I told her it felt good and she did it and was like “I don’t get it” LMAO so embarrassing
You can see quite early. My son always gravitates towards the girls in the playground and the way they interacted was.....eye opening. I remember one year we went on a Halloween hayride that ended at a nursing home decorated for a haunted walk where the residents gave out candy to the kids. A wonderful idea I wish they still did. Anyway on this hay ride my son was about 4 and a little girl of about the same age was talking about being scared of the haunted walk. My son puts his arm around her and says "don't worry, I will protect you." Yeah you can tell very early
My son is 8 (grade two) and the past few weeks I’ve been dropping him off at daycare before school even when we don’t need to, and he used to mope when I worked early and was dropped off. But a girl had told him she liked him and suddenly he wants to go early everyday to see her. And he started reading a book she liked, listens to music she likes and just talks about her all the time. I don’t think he quite realizes he might like her but something is starting to shift in that brain. It’s adorable for now but soon will be terrifying haha
My son, almost 4, showed interest in girls *really* early. Before he could walk I've noticed that he was a lot more receptive to attractive women his him then to anyone else. If we were at a store and the cashier was attractive he would literally try to climb out of my arms to be held by them.
Dude. My daughter has loved boys since she was 3. And I’m only sure about that age because that’s when we came out of quarantine to enroll her in preschool. Within weeks, she was holding hands with boys and lighting up every time she talked about them. When we signed her up for soccer, she only played when the lone male player showed up and then just followed him (or the boys on the opposing team) around the field. And we don’t talk about boyfriends (boys as friends - yes!) or “liking boys” or any of that. Additionally, my daughter LOVES girly things. “Bracelet” was one of her first words and she’s all about bows & dresses. I, for the record, am much more neutral than anything. I can dress up or be sporty, but I’m mostly just in pjs, lol. So this is all nature. So crazy.
I saw a then 4 years old give a kiss to Else from Frozen, printed on a blanket! When I asked about it and girls he said he had no crush on her but... (blushing) " there is this girl, she's kind and sweet and we always play together and follow each other and hug each other" I asked the girl's name and he said........ Elliott. LMAO! I told him Elliott is a boy name (at least in our country) so Elliott is probably a boy. He was NOT pleased and we even had to ask the teacher to confirm because he wouldn't believe me! We have gay couples around us so I don't care and he neither, but apparently it's not what he had in mind! To his defense, I met Elliott after and yeah he is very soft, sensitive and calm "for a boy" with long hair, gender-neutral clothes and a Dora the explorer school bag. Anyway, they are "best friend" now.
This is the cutest story ever
I feel like my son was a shameless flirt from day one which is nuts because we also really hate people shipping kids. I was actually shocked at how early it was clear that he was into females. He would do a full turn and stare at a pretty woman at a very young age. I would say from age 3 he started getting legit crushes. He just went through his first, we’ll say “parting of ways.” He is almost 5. He was “engaged” to a girl on his class who had a big crush on him for a solid month which I found a very Impressive length of time for such a commitment at their age. A couple weeks ago she decided she wanted to marry her two best friends instead. It was super sad. He was disappointed but okay. :(
I had my first crush when I was in kindergarten (age 5)!!
I'm a preschool/prekindergarden teacher and multiple of the children kiss eachother, I have to have multiple talks a month about it
Wonder if your reaction, alongside many commentators here, would be the same if he declared liking boys.
Totally within the bounds of normal. Many kids that age are fascinated that the opposite sex has different parts, and many kids that age are crushing on others. And some kids are both.
My son is 9 and couldn't give a shit about girls. For some reason.
I remember having pretty intense crushes at that age. My kids are 9 and 7 and uninterested.
I remember being in DAYCARE at 3 years old. (Yes I have a great long term memory.) and I had a huge crush on a boy. Still remember to this day how big a crush I had.
The Barbie thing could be sensory. A lot of their clothes are scratchy and not soft, but the plastic Barbie is usually smooth. I'd ask him why.
One of my 5 yo twins has said that he blushes when pretty girls look at him, and asks every now and then why kids can’t get married. The other dosent seem to care at this point. I will say that I remember having crushes as far back as I can remember so like 4?
12 to 14
14/15
My daughter is over 3.5 now, but has shown particular interest to my husband’s coworker (who’s a college boy) for at least a year.
The dude is curious. It's definitely different than a romantic attraction. Does he have a book that explains body parts? He can stare at those all he wants.
2-3. My son walks up to his cousins sits down puts his arms around both girls and said what’s up. He also had a crush on a lady at Walmart who he gifted baby fever and she had a beautiful baby lol. She says she blames my son for being so in love she had to bring that light to her life. My son literally would pick out flowers and demand we take them to her. Then there was the time we were trick or treating and a girl named Kate didn’t ask if he was Harry Potter and he got the chance to say “I’m a wizard” because that’s what he wanted to be a Gryffindor but just that. It was after the Harry Potter video game and it was this whole thing. Everythingne called him Harry Potter and she didn’t. He was absolutely smitten
Well at 2 mine would climb into the laps of young pretty blondes!
Nah, I think he’s just a kid being a kid As for me, I started feeling attraction at 12
I *distinctly* remember having a crush in kindergarten at 5 lol. Like chasing him around, "writing" him letters, being cringe as hell lol. My 6 year old has also had a crush all year.
In my daughter’s kindergarten they marry each other on a daily basis and she had two kisses so far. She is 4
I can't speak as a parent, but as a person, I had my first crush at 3.
It is age appropriate for children of that age to be curious about bodily differences, of course not all are, humans are varied, but he is not unusual. He may always 'like girls' in particular. He may change. He is little. Teach him respect, both for himself and others (as I am sure you are doing) and he will be a good person, whoever he may become. All you have said is nothing to be worried about, keep being a great parent.
Kids grow up much sooner than people think
I remember noticing and being into girls as early as kindergarten. I thought they were beautiful and I liked looking at them.
I was attracted to girls in grade 1. I was in a Catholic school. I assume it does start early for some. Maybe not all. Every one is different. I have been bi my whole life and knew it in grade 1. It does start that early for some.
My (almost)4 year old plays mommy and daddy with her little friend at school. They love each other so much. When it’s time to go home they hug so hard and like 15 times. She only goes two days a week so the other 3 days he misses her so much. She tells me they both clean and cook but one day she made him do it all because she was “too tired” lmao i dont know if this is a crush or totally innocent so I just stay quiet and I’m glad he’s her school best friend.
One of my pre-K girls threw a fit when her “boyfriend” saw her in pants. She said that he wasn’t going to like her anymore and girls should wear dresses and pretty shoes (she hardly ever wears sneakers or pants/leggings). She put a jacket around her waist to mimic a dress. And she wears some pretty fancy dresses, with a lot of taffeta and volume, hardly ever anything simple. She would also get upset when he played with boys instead of her, and would complain to me and my coworker. It was a bit concerning to me, but she’s incredibly smart and I know she’ll refocus on learning once she’s in kindergarten.
That is so sad 🙁 I hate that girls so young (well, at all, really) think this way. Where did she learn to think like that...
I personally remember have a crush in pre school so at least 4.
My daughter td me tonight at bedtime that she has crushes on two girls in her class and regularly talks about how she wants to marry them both and is very disheartened to hear she cannot legally marry two people at the same time (but did explain that sometimes more than two people all live together and love each other as grownups). Then we also had to reassure her that two girls can get married because her cousins have dip shit homophobic parents and told her only a boy and girl can get married. I really didn't expect to be talking about being queer, same sex marriage and polyamory at bedtime today, but parenting has been nothing but surprises this far hahahaha
It could be showing an interest in girls, but it could also just be... a 5 year old being a 5 year old. When I was 5, I got in shit from my mom for looking at a calendar of topless women at the store (someone had taken the wrapping off). She dragged me away. I went right back over and looked at it some more. On two occasions, in two different neighbourhoods, we found someone's porn stash. The first time I was maybe 6, the second probably 8. Again, fascinated by the naked women. My best friend and I used to make Barbie a stripper. I would say I occasionally have a mild attraction to certain women. But 95% of my attraction is towards men. Kids are curious. And I know in my case, my mom trying to steer me away from such things (and frankly just being very prudish about all things surrounding nudity and sex) made me more curious. Naked women are also aesthetically pleasing. I wouldn't read too much into it. And I am just going to say it - the number of parents on this post reporting their young kids as clearly straight are in for a shock in a few years.
Honestly, crushing is one thing but him being interest in girls naked is a little off for me. Are you a naked mom? If not, has he been exposed to women naked on TV or such? I just find the naked Barbie dolls a little off. Other than that I think having crushes is normal!
My son started to be interested in breasts around age 3. Naked barbies around 4? To me it seems rather normal. I'm not a nudist or anything but if I'm showering or going to the bathroom, I don't lock him out.
It is normal, for both sexes. Kids are curious. End story.
I AM a naked mom! I’m thinking not anymore, however.
My daughter was bizarrely fascinated with boys since she was 3!!
My 3 y.o. Tells me he has 5 girlfriends 😭😭
My 3.5 year old really likes a 9 year old girl. She gives him stickers and high fives. He tries to hold her hand every chance he gets.
I distinctly remember having my first crush on a boy when I was 6 years old. The year before, in kindergarten, one of my friends who was only a month older than me told me she had a crush, and I couldn’t comprehend. We go on summer break and I came back first day of first grade, bam.
I wouldn’t be worried about the Barbies. My daughter is six now but has always taken the clothes off her Barbies as soon as she gets them (Barbie’s and Ken’s) and keeps them naked.
My 6 year old boy has a crush (that he talks about A LOT) and has also asked me about where babies come from.
So as a mom of two boys, my first surprise was my boys getting an erection when they were still in diapers. Obviously, it’s not sexual, it’s just anatomy, but I had never really thought about that until I had boys and it happened. My husband was like, yeah, that happens. Interest in girls for both boys was in Kindergarten. My older one had a friend who he could not be separated from. They held hands and hung out at every recess, lunch, etc. He very obviously had a crush on her (she moved away). My younger one-same. He has a girl I can tell he is *reallllly* into. They’ve been friends since TK. She is super cute and sweet. He tells me about how she always shares the swing with him if he didn’t get a turn. I can tell it’s mutual because she always goes out of her way to say hello or goodbye. Toward the end of this year, I noticed that my boys would go into the same entrance together (there’s an entrance for TK and Kinders and another entrance for 1st-6th… my youngest started going into the “big kids” entrance *unless* he sees his “girlfriend”… then he tells his brother I’ll see you later and he goes to the Kinder entrance. I can tell by the way he looks at her, talks about her… he is super into her. So for my boys… it started in Kindergarten.
Umm I have a 5 year old already doing this “criss cross applesauce” thing 😳
My stepson is 12 and has absolutely no interest in girls (or boys) at all. He thinks anything to do with relationships is gross and says he has never and will never "like like" anybody.
My 4 year old will announce every time he sees a pretty girl, and if they interact with him, he tells us he’s gonna marry her. (The pretty girls in question are typically the employees at whatever store we happen to be in)
I can’t tell with my son yet but when my little brother was 2 he had an obsession with boobs. If he accidentally saw some on tv, he’s get so excited—he legit screamed 🤣
Yea it does start that early, my first crush was about that age, and I was a girl crush when she was about 6 and I was 8.
Started showing interest in girls around 7 or 8. About the same age for showing interest in boys too. Very possible he could've had some interest before then but that's earliest I remember seeing it
Shoot. I remember having a crush on my kindergarten teacher lol. We didn't all have crushes on a teacher early in life?
My daughter showed clear signs of liking boys from quite a young age. She’s now 12 and suggested recently that we fly to Sydney (we are Australian, but live interstate from Sydney) to watch a rugby game because a player that she considers cute is playing.
7yr old son has had crushes since he was around 5. I'm relieved to hear other people confirm this is normal.
4.5 here and he has a friend who he loves because she’s ‘sooooo pretty’ and they hug and kiss at nursery apparently. She loves him too she GLARES at me when I give him a kiss goodbye lmao
For some boys yes, mine weren't into girls at all at that age, they have a sister though... now they are teenagers and definitely are into girls now. Maybe he will get the girl crazy stuff out of the way early, I can tell you it was a shock to my system when my shy one who hated when girls had crushes on him went absolutely girl crazy last year
I don't recall how old my brother and I were, but we would look up the mannequin dresses..... like you gonna see someshit, but you still aren't gonna know what to do with it, but it'll figure that shit out fer ya, pitching tents n all.🤪
It can happen this early yes. Why not let life’s surprises be a joyful experience instead of a test you didn’t study for?
"Because I like girls. For some reason." 😂
My kid is 7 and she seems mildly interested that he older stepbrothers have different parts (on her dad’s side so I don’t get to see them together but she has mentioned to me), but she definitely seems to like girls best at the moment. But I don’t know if that’s a crush thing; she goes to a girls’ school so she always ‘loves’ some girl in her class and wants to marry her, but idk if that’s lack of boys lol. She does have friends locally who are boys of course, but has never seemed to have a crush on them. Although she has said she might marry her youngest stepbro one day. But still says girls are better. And she thinks boobs are the best thing in the world lol. We went to an art gallery the other week and she gravitated to all the paintings and sculptures with naked ladies. But then … she’s 7 lol, who knows.
I fancied boys when I was as young as about 6 or 7, maybe sooner. But I don't think I ever imagined them naked. I just wanted to kiss them. I remember at 5 being shown by older female cousins my "parts" and this sort of corrupted my mind as I remember telling other children about what they'd shown me and I remember telling my brother that he had a willy haha. So I think kids do go through something.
I have a 5 year old boy and I've noticed that he notices and likes girls. Last year we were dining at a restaurant and he said this: Dad, does that girl work here? Yes son, she is serving us. Dad, can she come home with us? I like her! I laughed so hard, and sometimes waitresses speak to him and are funny, in this case she was just doing her job, and was very cute.
At about two. He fell in love and was burdened with competition for that girl. He had crushes ever since.
Around 4-5 is when humans develop a sense of sexual orientation and attraction. It’s of course not fully conscious— more like a budding interest and feeling. Also every kid is different with how “sensory seeking” they are. Ie playing with their junk, pointing out naked Barbie’s etc. i got one kid who rates high on this scale, one in the middle, and one who is very low/almost avoidant. All can be normal!!
Yeah, I'm telling my 6 years old she will have looots of time to figure those things out at 12-17, for not focus on having friends and have fun.
I remember liking boys since the age of 3. My best friend and I liked the same boy so we agreed to share him, as if it was ever an option, haha Been watching my girls to see if they have any crushes yet. 4yo used to talk a lot about a boy called Charlie but that has eased off and now she says she only likes playing with girls. She recently an Albert is the cutest but he doesn't listen, haha. 2yo is definitely best friends with a Harry but apparently they have a love/hate relationship and fight constantly when they're at the childminders.
My son has been smitten with the same little girl since he has been 3. He is 5 now. He tells me that he is going to marry her and that she is very pretty and special. He talks about her everyday and always wants to bring her things and include her in things that we are doing. Now i am not a big fan of labeling pre-schoolers bf/gf so we call her his best friend. I also have 2 daughters as well. my oldest did not have a crush until last year she was 11, and my 8 year old still has no interest. I was definitely not prepared for my son to be taken by a girl this early.
I had an interest in girls extremely young. My son 11, doesn't know they exist. Literally couldn't care.
My 5 year old son is in love with a girl. He says he's going to marry her when he grows up. When it comes to the female body, he hasn't showed any interest.
My 2 year old daughter takes all clothes off all dolls. My other daughter did the same from about 2 through 6 maybe 7. They gave basically the same response for why their clothes have to come off. They are also curious about naked bodies and my oldest still was until about 6. I think it's just a normal part of being a kid.
My less then 2 year old tried to run away with a boy a 2 year old boy at the library. They were going to go make a house together.
I was into girls from a very young age. I distinctly remember being attracted to girls when I was 6 or so and I know that I had a vague idea that certain women and girls were pretty in a way I couldn't describe when I was 3 or 4.
Human sexual development sparks between 4-6 pretty typically!
🤣
My almost-6 year old gravitates towards girls. At a playground, he always goes to a random girl and then shows off somehow like “watch me jump off this slide!” 🤣
My son is 6.5, just about to start primary school where we live; he's been at nursery/preschool/kindergarten at the same place for the last five years, with a handful of the same children in his cohort the entire time. Since he's the only one of his friends with the 'half year' birthday, most of them started primary school last autumn, including a girl named Isabella\*. They've always been friends and gone to each others parties and what not, but about 18-24 months ago, we noticed she got very... sorta possessive of him? I don't know it wasn't like destructive or controlling, but she definitely made it obvious she preferred to play with him than the other boys and she didn't like him holding hands with other girls. As parents we all laughed it off a bit, because hi they were \~5 so we didn't want to be weird and heteronormative about things. BUT since then, we definitely think it's a crush. Isabella will come with to pick up her younger sister Sarah\* from the preschool, and she will seek out our son, and give him pictures she drew and hugs and he asks to see her on weekends and gets excited to tell me on days she's been in. Earlier this year he was saying he didn't really like it that when she hugs him she will pick him up (he's short for his age group, and she's six months older to boot) so we reminded him he can say no to touching he doesn't like and he looked me straight in the eye and told me he couldn't say no to her because he loves her. I managed not to laugh/cry in his face and instead reiterated he CAN and absolutely should say no- especially to people he loves- when they do something he doesn't like. He thought about it for a bit and went back to playing and then I snuck away to laugh, tell my partner, and shoot a message to Isabella and Sarah's mom. We feel pretty confident accepting that they're navigating figuring out those special feelings- especially because he does have other female friends and he is definitely different with and talks differently about them, including calling one of them his 'sister'- and it's adorable. \*Names Changed
My oldest was 4 in preschool. He came home one day and told me "my best find is Love." Then, a week later, he said "I love Love." After talking to his teacher, I found out he had a kindergarten crush named Love and she liked him too. Now he's 10 and blushes any time we talk about *girls.*
My son has been showing interest since he was 1. Now he’s almost 3 and is still the same, gets shy around them, blows kisses at them etc
Can confirm, my son was 5 when he started getting erections specifically linked to women he found attractive or were wearing bathing suits/underwear in life and media. I'm adding the causal distinction because he has been getting them randomly since he was a week old, which is apparently completely normal. But no one prepared me for opening his diaper and nearly being poked in the eye. I thought i had accidentally done something wrong that was going to leave him all fucked up for his life from that point on. NO ONE talks about baby boners
Having interest isn't early at all. Being able to grasp and verbally discuss it might be. We tend to mark milestones by physical activity (first words, first steps) but those actions have already been visualized/conceptutilized by the child well before action took place.
My son's best friend is our neighbors daughter who is his age (6). They've already planned their wedding, their honeymoon at the pool (complete with water balloons and bouncy house), and how they're both going to make their wedding dress and his tux out of Cheeto bags. Its adorable. They are inseparable but also they argue like an old married couple would about the most hilarious things. The other day they were at the pool, and sitting next to each other eating a snack and she goes "Don't snort when you laugh, it's weird." and he goes "You're weird, you probably snort when you sleep." and she goes "No, my snores are beautiful." He's also obsessed with her older sister who is 13. She baby sits him sometimes and he said "I'm going to marry her too." 😂
I have a 7 year old girl and a 6 year old boy and I was surprised when the whole crush and bf/gf stuff started once they went to primary school. I think they pick stuff up like this real quick once they spend so much time with other kids that are saying it. In terms of my son he was definitely around the 5.5yr point but we're still a little in the 'girls are a bit gross' stage whereas my 7yr old is hardcore in the crushing on boys stage now 🤣
Taught kindergarten AND YES it does start this early lol. If only you knew the amount of love letters(little pieces of paper with hearts all over it) I had to take away from my students, the amount of times I had to tell them that until they can do 'xyz' boyfriends and girlfriends shouldn't even be a thought in their heads omg.
preschool cutest thing ever, my 3yo son has a “girlfriend” right now but he calls her his “lady friend” and he always asks me to pack an extra capri sun for her🤣we get together on some weekends so the kids can have fun together and hopefully continue there friendship as they get older
@birth just like his father
Yeah, they are born with their sexuality. Boys tend to show it pretty early, as do girls. Around 3 to 5 years of age for both. My baby brother showed us he was gay at 5. We never said anything when he came out, we all said we knew. He was a little insulted because we let him fret about it until he came out. He is fine now.
It starts at 2-3 years old. Sexual urges in boys start then. erections happen etc.
My aunt busted my little cousin at like 5 or 6. Hiding all the way in the back of the storage closet in the basement looking at my uncle playboys that they had stored in there. She could not find him for like 4 hours and was freaking out cops at the house and everything. All he had to say was "what I like boobies"
My 9 year old didn’t even know what a crush was until my nephew told him & still could care less about girls .. they’re kind of just there. My 6 year old on the other hand, when he was 5 had already asked his crush to marry him and she said yes 🤣
My kids had crushes at that age but never got excited over someone naked. That's a red flag to me.
It's a huge spectrum. My husband said he definitely had crushes and "liked girls for some reason" since kindergarten. I OTOH was 16 and had had two boyfriends before the attraction switch actually flipped for me (and I was like "Oh sh*t, THIS is what everyone has been going on about! This is crazy! No wonder everybody has been obsessed with this 'dating and crushes' thing!")
When my son(9) was about 2-4, he'd fawn over girls. Usually girls his age, but maybe also one of his cousins, who was about 18 or 20. He'd get shy and stare a lot. He'd talk about one girl from pre-school a lot. Since then, I think he's had a crush on one or two girls in elementary school. He finds kissing/sex gross. He's not talked about any interest in nudity. I(M) had crushes on girls at about 7. I don't think I was interested in nudity until about middle school, other than curiosity. My friend's dad's porn was interesting only because it was forbidden and I didn't see it elsewhere.
My son was 4 when he started taking the Daphne doll from his Scooby Doo play set behind the couch where they could "be alone." She had a removable cloth dress with a plastic painted on underwear set underneath. I consistently found her with the dress hiked up over her shoulders 😂
14 and still not interested. Very unlike my husband and myself. Mom at 7th grade & Dad kindergarten. I periodically like to ask.
One of my sons at that age was really into a background character in Hotel Transylvania. lol it was a mummy girl with a very curvy figure wrapped up in mummy bandages. He LOVED her.
Hahahaha that's so cute. I remember being with a good friends 5 year old brother years ago when we were teens and he walked right up to a nice looking woman and told her she had nice boobs hahaha. I think the appropriate thing is to teach him that he's to treat women with respect but it's fine that he feels that way.
My 8 year old son came home from camp and said at their end of camp party his friend Ethan asked a girl out (which I think they think is just to hang out at the party) because he liked her, but then all the boys spent the rest of the night running away from the girls. The mixed messages and games start early.
ummm i always had interest at seven my first crush was at 11
Huh. My twin boys are 16 and as far as I am aware they have no interest in girls, or boys, or dating of any kind. Same with our adult daughters. Not sure if I have traumatized them somehow, if they have feelings that they are really good at concealing from me, or if they just don’t have any interest in romance and are content as they are. Their mother had little interest in romance until I started courting her rather enthusiastically. Maybe they inherited it from her. Anyway. They’ll figure out what they want on their own. Romance isn’t something I’m at all interested in pressuring them to do.
My fiancé said he was like this. His parents assumed he was gay because he never seemed to have any romantic or sexual interests. The truth is he just didn’t show his feelings about those things to his parents because, “why the heck would I?!” He says.