As @Bellatrix stated, many people comfort eat. It makes no difference that he is a boy. The big deal to me @AnonymousGirl, is that I don’t think it is in any way healthy (emotionally or physically). It does not deal with the emotions being experienced and it instills the mentality that if you are sad, food will make you feel better when all it does is avoid the feelings, eventually makes you feel worse and fosters much larger issues to deal with.
All of my sons have been taught respect for feeling, their own and others. I have never told them to get over things or just to suck it up. I always try my best to respect their feelings and never dismiss them as irrelevant or unimportant. Nor would I ever intentionally embarrass them. If I am embarrassing them or not helping them, if they don’t want to talk about something or they just want to stop, they tell me so and I respect that.
Apparently my kids are not normal @AnonymousGirl because he came to me first. He was very comfortable coming to me when he first took interest in her… telling me about her, what he thought and how he felt. I told him if he wanted to ask her out, I would support him and offered him help (cash, ride, ect). His dad knew nothing about this girl until my son told him he had a date.
He knows I am here for him. We had talked Monday night and not much since then. I have asked a couple of times how he is doing and when he says “good” I believe him and say “okay”. That doesn’t mean I am dismissing it. I think it would be foolish to not keep an eye on his behavior, especially in today’s teenage world.
He’s not devastated by this and is pretty much over it already. I apologize if I gave the wrong impression in my original question. It’s kind of hard to explain… I think teenage boys and girls process things differently so therefore my question was meant to be directed toward personal experiences (either as a male teenager or the mother of one) and things/deeds that really helped to get through young crushes and heartbreaks.
ps. Random hugs can say much more than words, imo, and he is very receptive to them as he has been receiving them all his life : ) (He also gives them!)