Oh what a sad story meedee ! Poor child !! She must have been so upset. I wonder what’s in this mums head for her to act so rigorously on an innocent friendship what her girl developed with your brother and that of the age of 5 ! Of course we don’t know the whole story what it made her act like that. Maybe she was abused and has an unrealistic anxiety in this regard ?

NO.
One of my younger brothers had a “girlfriend” when he was 5 and in his first year of school. When they had the parent teacher interviews Mum was told by the teacher that Karleens Mother had booked the interview straight after hers so she could talk to her. She spoke to my Mum about how concerned she was that things were getting serious between her daughter and my brother. Mum thought she was nuts. She pulled her daughter out of the school and put her in an all girls school. At the age of 5 for goodness sake. My brother was heartbroken and no doubt so was Karleen.

Of course you don’t have to be worried when your primary school child has a boyfriend or girl friend at least not when it’s a child in similar age range as your child, it’s most often very innocent.
When there is a big age gap some caution may be good as sadly there are predators and paedophiles and child molesters out there.

There is nothing wrong with having a “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” when you are young. To me it’s just another way of saying they are your best friend. As long as it’s just holding hands or hugging then I don’t see the harm in it. I’d just keep an eye on the situation to make sure both children involved know that anything that makes them uncomfortable is not okay and you’re there if they need someone to talk to. On no account should you laugh and ridicule their feelings.

When one of my sons was about six, he and a female friend had a whole plan for getting married, having three kids (they’d even named them), where they’d live in order to access babysitting help from grandparents (ie me). The little girls mother and I joked about choosing wedding outfits together. And the kids outgrew it but are still friends.

Friendships are important to kids and sometimes labels like girlfriend, best friends, besties happen and it’s normal. Kids are growing and learning how to navigate the world. It’s all natural. I don’t think there is much to worry about unless it looks to intense and inappropriate. As always it’s a matter of talking to your kids.

What an outrageous comment

I dont think bf/gf is appropriate terms for kids that young. Friendships is what I’d be referring to it as. There shouldn’t be intimacy in that sense at that age. Let them enjoy being kids and doing kid things.

I don’t think kids having a boyfriend or girlfriend at this age is wrong. They are exploring their feelings and 99% of the time it is harmless. I had what I called a boyfriend when I was a child and nothing bad happened. Most of the times kids are just playing it out from seeing others do this. I don’t see it being an issue if it is hapless fun.

Having a boyfriend or girlfriend is perfectly normal and a part of growing up. I had one and it’s all just puppy love anyway. What can be unhealthy is primary school aged kids mimicking the LBTQ+ community. Yes, they have their rights which have been recognised, but it is also confusing our children as they are starting to think it’s the cool or in-thing to be bi or gay in some way or even non-binary. Primary school age kids would not know what their sexuality is as they are too young and are just play acting, which I do not think is healthy at all.

kids should enjoy their childhood as much as they can rather than having romantic relationships, its okay to have friends that are of the opposite sex, but kids brains are still developing and learning about life. Protect them from getting old before their time.

Quite simply DON’T WORRY
Most importantly keep the lines of communication open
Talk about what do they think about it all
Is there anything more they want to know about how “things” work with a boyfriend/girlfriend
What do you think about it?
Try sharing what your experiences were when you were young
For example just to “toss in” something different and a bit fun earlier this month my Husband and I celebrated our 36th Wedding anniversary and we first began our friendship/relationship as a couple of 11 year olds Sure we both had “real” relationships with other people as we grew older but we had always remains friends and found our way back together

Along with reinforcing boundaries and consent; it is so essential for children and adults to also have open communication and to discuss these issues. Fostering an environment of open communication is so good for family relationships. Respecting what children say and not laughing at them is the way to build trust and good communication.

I think it’s completely normal for kids to have ‘crushes’ or what they call feelings. We’ve definitely all been there, whether it be with a celeb or another person. It’s best to be able to let them feel safe and open to discuss it, and leave open communication on the table to avoid anything hidden in secrecy.

A good and informative article. I remember having crushes in primary school, as did my daughter, but it was all fairly normal to me.

I have always considered this to be completely normal. I remember the time that I was at primary school myself and had a crush on a boy. However I was quite shy and dare to share this with anyone. I like it when kids can explore and experiment this normal developmental stage and feel safe enough to talk about it

This is a lovely and informative read and I think it’s important to talk about consent and boundaries from a young age on wards. Very important indeed to always take the feelings of our kids serious and never make fun of them if you want to remain a close relationship with them

An interesting and informative article and I am happy that boundaries and consent are being reinforced in this article. It is so important for children to know that consent is a must and that it is essential to have boundaries and that they are respected. Tips that are both sensible and practical.

Really great tips here on how to go about this as the parent. I look back at the little girlfriend – boyfriend situations I had in primary school and laugh (and cringe pretty hard), but I can’t help but feel it’s a whole new ball game with social media in the mix.