When do you remember being interested in the opposite sex?

[georgiegirl]

Boys and girls started "going" together in 4th grade. I had a generic crush on the most popular boy, as all the other girls did. I didn't like a specific boy until 8th grade.

Dd had a crush on a boy last year in third grade. He was a good pick: funny, cute, athletic and good at math facts!

[anonomom]

My first crush was in fourth grade. I also was the object of a crush that year, so apparently it wasn't limited to girls.

DD1 has ever talked about having a "crush," but on further questioning what she was really talking about was being good friends with a boy. Since he was the first close boy friend she ever had (starting in second grade), she used the language of "crush" and "boyfriend" to describe it. I blame Disney.

[Mommy_Mea]

I had a boyfriend in 1st grade, we used to chase each other around the playground and he would kiss me when he caught me. Then I was devastated when he started chasing and kissing another girl I had a hard-core crush on a boy from 3rd grade until middle school, but no serious boyfriend until my senior year. I don't know when things transitioned from innocent crushes to "grown-up feelings", more in early high school for me. But I was a bit of a late bloomer...

[klwa]

I remember having "boyfriends" as young as first grade, but it was just me & a few friends announcing who our boyfriend was. Heck, I don't think the boys really knew that we had decided that for them! There was no real romantic intent, just we thought it was fun.

By third grade, I had a huge crush on one of my brothers' friends, which led to very uncomfortable times for me.

But then, I didn't actually date anyone until I was a junior in high school.

So, with all that said, I would say I started noticing boys in about 3rd grade, but there was nothing other than noticing for a long while.

[123LuckyMom]

I think I was about 9. Third grade.

[ang79]

My first crush was third grade I think. I had my friends help fabricate this story to tell the boy just to get him to talk to me! There was a boy in fourth grade who had a crush on me, but he was in a different class so I didn't see him much. Friends starting having "boyfriends" in grades 5 and 6. But it was the type where they said they were boyfriend/girlfriend, but never talked to each other. There was a girl in my class in 6th grade who told the rest of us all about frensh kissing with her 7th grade boyfriend, which grossed most of out. My first real boyfriend was end of 8th grade. I wasn't boy crazy like some of the girls in my class though. This was someone that I had gotten to know well through lots of afterschool/evening practices of the school musical and our friendship transitioned into more.

DD1 is in 3rd grade. I think maybe she has had a crush on a boy in her class since last year. And good friends of our family have a boy close in age to her that has "confessed" his love to her a few times. The first few times she told him she only liked him as a friend and she acted embarrassed about the whole thing. Now when the two of them are together they go off on walks in our yard, just the two of them, leaving the younger siblings out. I think it is just a close friendship, but its cute to watch

[lalasmama]

I clearly remember my first three big crushes... The first one happened in 1st grade. Leroy was in the group "The Jets" and, clearly, despite the 15 or 20 year age difference, he was cute, his mullet was thick, and I sent him a letter asking if he had a girlfriend, and if not, I'd be his girlfriend. I found the letter in my baby-box when my mom passed on a few years ago, and it gave me quite a chuckle. My more "serious" ones were both in 5th grade. One was Nathan--I liked him because we were both adopted, and both had round bellies. I was a chunky kid, so I apparently thought his chunky belly meant love. The other one was Travis. I liked him because he admitted to *still* having a Cabbage Patch Kid in 5th grade. Since I collected Cabbage Patch Kids, I thought he was the coolest person in the whole world.

DD has had a crush on Elijah since 3rd or 4th grade (heading into 6th grade now). She won't tell us what she likes about him, beyond that he is cute. I forgot to see if she was in homeroom with him this year; now I need to ask, lol! She hasn't so much as even spoke to him, though. She also had the hots for Justin Bieber since she was in 2nd grade, but I see those as less "romantic" and more about who's popular.

In 7th grade, I had a "boyfriend" though, humorously, at that time, I told everyone he was just a friend. We only held hands and sat next to each other when other people weren't around.

I clearly remember kids "dating" (holding hands in the halls at school, mainly) in 6th grade. Since I was the chunky, stinky, awkward kid, I dreamed of the day someone would want to hold my hand in the middle of the halls at school, and sit next to me at lunch time, especially since the only other kids hanging out with me were also chunky, stinky, and awkward! I just dreamed of being the popular kid, which is so "not me" now.

DD is, overall, shy around boys, just like I was, and I haven't encouraged her to get to know boys any better yet. She's young for her age, and I'd like to keep her young for a few more years. There will be plenty of time for boys when she's older!

As far as the puberty aspect of things, I was definitely in the middle of puberty when my "serious" crushes started. DD, on the other hand, is just starting puberty now (breast buds, a few hairs), and she's been at least noticing boys since before those things started. I hope she continues to follow me with her interest in boys (or girls, if she chooses)... her older (step) sisters were a bit less shy than I was (ie, boyfriends and sexually active in the first half of high school), and I have no idea how I would handle DD doing what her sisters did!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Well, I "went" with a boy named Darren the first week of 5th grade. I'm not sure we ever even talked but I know I thought he was cute.

[Cuckoomamma]

I was really young and have two dd's. Both aren't really interested in boys, and our older dd is 14. In our case, I grew up in an urban environment and it wasn't uncommon for adults to ask if I had a boyfriend. They thought it was cute and I was eager to please. I also watched tv shows with content that I didn't expose our girls to. Both our girls are kept very busy with an emphasis on achieving their own goals. In contrast, my nephew has a close friend who is a girl and my sister has been saying that they would grow up to be married since he was 5. I think parental influence plays a part. There's just no emphasis on it in our home. I'm not saying that this is everything, but I do think it's part of the equation. My younger dd, 10, spends a lot of time with a boy who is similar in age, and she doesn't interpret it as anything other than him being a friend.

So, both our girls aren't following my childhood pattern