Watching tweens starting to become interested in the opposite sex is both scary and fun. But, there are real feelings at stake.
Having three boys, and being the only woman in my house, I hear some pretty interesting conversations. Usually they are about football, race cars, and burping contests. You can just imagine that the conversation that gets most of my attention is hearing about a girl that one of my boys likes a lot. Of course, I have to remain cool, calm, and collected when inching my way into the conversation, or the whole talk stops!
I have always wanted to be someone that my boys could talk to about their relationships with girls. I mean, I have so much useful information to impart on them. Yeah, right! Being a mom actually means that I do not know much about the subject at all. Anyway, I do take a serious interest in what they tell me because even if it is a first crush or their feelings got hurt in some way, I want them to know that I can be sincere and do have some good advice.
I guess the best advice I can give is to respect your child's feelings. If I were to go around saying, "Aw, that is so cute that you like, such and such," or "My baby is growing up so fast," I might as well expect never to hear anything about their relationships ever again. There is a definite skill to staying in the know about what is going on your child's life.
