Can you help me diagnose this problem with my son?

[Pale Blue Dot]

My 9-year-old son Kevin never has a problem making friends. He is always very friendly and nice, and he talks to everyone.

Except the cute little girl who lives across the way.

Whenever she comes around, Kevin gets tight-lipped. He completely ignores her. This morning, on the way to the school bus, she came running up behind us:

ME: Kevin, your friend is behind us.

Kevin (says nothing)

ME: ...who you should really say "Good Morning" to...

Kevin (without looking back): Good morning.

What could be causing Kevin to behave so rudely to this one cute girl?

(BTW, I think I know the answer to this one. :D)

[GOPisEvil]

1. Heehee...puppy love!

:D

[Misunderestimator]

2. Well, duh... he likes her ... but you knew that :) n/t

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. the problem is you

"Mooooooooooooooooom, you're embarassing me!!!"

:D

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. Well, that WOULD be a problem.

...since I'm the dad. :-)

[THUNDER HANDS]

19. oh

Well, that's not as bad then, carry on.

:D

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. Yeah, you do know the answer but...........

don't push him. He probably feels embarrased enough. LOL

[radwriter0555]

5. Of course! How sweet! Don't tease him about it though....

his first crush!!!

I wouldn't even mention her any time soon...

My 11 year old daughter is the object of affection from her first crush.. a very nice boy in her class, who boldly announced his crush on her on Monday.

I told her yesterday to invite him to call and email her over the summer.

[Pale Blue Dot]

10. But teasing is what I do best....

:-(

[koopie57]

16. It is tempting to tease

but if you want him to talk to you in the future about things that might be "teasable" or he might think are "teaseable" it is a good idea IMHO not to tease, but to tell him you understand how women can make men tongue tied or something to that effect. I would suggest you say good morning to the little girl so your son can see a positive example about talking to her. He needs to know you are on his side and you understand his feelings. He is still learning how to socialize, give him good examples and little hints. I always told my kids to "do it like you mean it". Like walking into a new classroom, just walk in like you mean it. Tell them your name like you mean it. I don't know if that makes sense, but they understood what I meant.

[commander bunnypants]

6. I used to get shy around cute girls

Marriage took care of that. Now that I am safe a lot of friends are hotties.

DDQM

[sus]

7. awwww..that's so sweet.

does he have any siblings who can tease him about it? :)

[vi5]

9. Can I offer some advice please.....

Don't push the issue too hard, even in a well intentioned, kind hearted, joking manner.

When I was 9 I had a crush as well. And I offhandedly gave my crush a peck on the cheek at some school event where parents were at.

My mom made such a big deal out of it and kept remarking on it and kepting telling people about it and bringing up this girl and joking referring to her as "my girlfriend" or "my little friend".

My mom meant well and said all this stuff out of love and out of the pride of seeing a child grow up and develop new emotions and feelings.

But it mortified my little 9 year old brain and heart. It made me withdrawn and it made me very shy about girls because I equated girls and liking girls with this glaring spotlight and attention which was embarrassing and which I didn't like.

So just tread lightly. Enjoy watching it, but perhaps limit the comments as much as possible. Perhaps you are doing this already, but this story just bought back so many uncomfortable memories. Keep in mind at this point I'm 34, married, and with a child. So obviously I dealth with it. But it definitely impacted my shyness and my reserved nature which wasn't always helpful once I got a little older.

[LynneSin]

11. I thought your son was going to be my future husband

I was planning on marrying him when he turns 18.

Don't you want me as your daughter-in-law

:shrug:

[Pale Blue Dot]

12. AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!

No, Nancy, no! :evilgrin:

[LynneSin]

14. BTW, we planning on living at your home after we marry

I'm sure your wife won't mind

[Pale Blue Dot]

18. AAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Finnfan faints dead away

[LynneSin]

21. We were going to name our first child

after that Finn guy you like so much

Or maybe we'll just name him after Ronald Reagan

[johnnie]

13. Awwwwwww

His first. That's so refreshing to read this early in the morning. I sort of miss those old feelings.

[lil-petunia]

15. could it be

that he became a republican?
(maybe it's only a temporary condition!)

[Pale Blue Dot]

17. 3 weeks ago

we were at a Cub Scout pack meeting, and in the middle of it he started shouting, for no apparent reason, "Democrats! Democrats! We all must be Democrats!"

So Republicanism is not a concern for me... :D

[lil-petunia]

20. whew

I was worried for a sec.

[flamingyouth]

22. At least Kevin is savvy enough

To not mercilessly tease the girl he likes, like so many boys do.

He must have learned this from someone in his house, although I can't imagine from whom. :7