Ginger’s daughter is 7, and in second grade. And she is learning the ins and outs of boys:

I asked her who this Stephen boy is, because the last I knew there
was another boyfriend in the picture, Andrew. (Their romance began when
he taught her how to make farting noises under her arm.) She informed
me that Andrew isn’t her boyfriend any longer because he would not
acknowledge that he was, indeed, her boyfriend.  He would get
embarrassed and say, “No, I’m not!”

I say, “Way to go, girl!  Make sure the boy treats you with respect.”

Even at 7.

Fortunately, my 7 year old daughter has enough brothers to think boys are totally gross. Still, I’m sure I will have to deal with it someday and it’s a scary thought in a lot of ways. Will she be totally boy-crazy like I was? How will I help her to make good decisions about boys and dating and sex?

Funny, I don’t have these worries about my 13 year old son. Double standard, or do I trust him? I’d like to think I trust him, but it may be part double standard. He’s pretty mature, for a boy, but he is, after all, a boy. All I can do is keep talking to him and talking to him about making the right choices and hope it sticks. It’s this time of life where you start to set your kid out to sail, hoping that they’ll do what you taught them, but knowing you have to let them make mistakes and feel the full weight of their own pain.

Gah, parenting. It’s scary some days.