How young is to young?

I’m one of those mother that sits outside while the neighborhood children play, making sure that everyone “behaves” themselves. Thankfully my children are 7 and 3 years old so this has yet to embarrass them, for now. It has however turned me into the neighborhood mom that children come to when someone is hurt or misbehaving. The benefits: the children tell me everything! The other day I was sitting on my porch with my son and his two best friends. My son is 7 years old and his best friends, who are brothers, are ages 6 and 8. This is how our conversation went.

6 year old: Ms Crystal I know who I want my first girlfriend to be.
Myself: Oh really who would that be?
6 year old: A girl in my class Emmy, well her name is Emily but we call her Emmy.
Myself: Oh, okay. What does she look like?
6 year old: She has blonde hair and she is white, probably whiter than Conner.

Now Conner is my son, with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes and yes he is the definition of pale. He plays outside for hours at a time but unless you see his bare behind than you can’t tell that child has ever seen sunlight! We joke and say that he is immune to the sun. His best friends on the other hand are naturally tan, brown hair and brown eyes and never need sun block.

Myself: Tell me what the difference is between a girlfriend and a friend that is a girl? 
6 year old: Well you kiss your girlfriend, but you don’t kiss your friends.
8 year old: And you hold their hand and spend more time with them than your friends.
Myself: Oh, and how old do you think you should be when you start kissing girlfriends?
6 years old: I think 10 years old is good for me.
Conner: 18, yup 18 is better
8 year old: I think when your in high school.
Myself: Okay I think high school is a good answer. Kissing girlfriends is a very grownup thing to do and you shouldn’t want to be a grown-up so fast. I think high school is a good time to think about it.

Then I sent them off to ride their bike while I pondered over what had just happened. Did I really just have that conversation? Shouldn’t their minds be focused on bugs, legos, and who can burp the loudest! This new generation is a good 5 years ahead of where we were at there age, and I’m not ready for it. Time needs to slow down…That’s what I think!