Which is still very much learned behavior, often the result of an uncle pestering “So little Jimmy, got a girlfriend yet?”
My daughter has had crushes since kindergarten and absolutely no one has asked her if she “has a boyfriend yet”
Kids develop crushes. You don’t need to make it weird.
I had a little girlfriend when we were in first grade. lol I don’t recall anyone ever asking me if I had a girlfriend or anything, and I had plenty of friends that were girls and no one ever teased me about it that I remember. I knew it was okay to be friends with girls, I just had a crush on this one. We played Zelda together and talked on the phone for hours about whatever dumb things first graders talk about, then her family moved to another state. It was my most successful relationship to date. 😂
Yes, your daughter has had the quintessential American child experience which is most likely going to underscored by taking place in a western-flavored cis heterosexual context. What I’m saying is that it’s all relative. Your daughter’s relationship experience will be different than an ancient Egyptian, or a Native American, or a Viking. There is nothing “natural” about the way we currently partake in relationships as Americans. And my point is that it is weird to assert “My child is so in love!” Let them express things on their own. Give them that freedom.
Almost everything we do is learned behaviour. Could be as simple as hearing adults talk about it to each other or calling people someone’s girlfriend or boyfriend.
