I don’t know if I had my first date until I was 17 or so. My daughter is 16, and I haven’t seen even a hint of a sign that there are any boys interested in her, and certainly nothing from her about any interest in a boy or in boys in general. Nor anyone.
She talks about her friends who date with a kind of air that they are being silly to get all caught up about a boy. She thinks boys aren’t very mature, and I guess that means they aren’t worth thinking about. She is, however, keen to advise her friends about what they should do to solve their boyfriend problems.
I’m proud of her and just a teensy bit worried. I mean, if she has too high standards, will she ever meet a boy she can really admire? But I also am proud because her focus is on getting good grades and getting into a good college (preferably with full freight, I hope). But then, both her mother and father were “late bloomers,” so there is a lot for her to do before she starts thinking about a boy like that.
I think there are social people and there are academic people and there are all kinds of other people. There are people who are both social and academic. There are people who are neither. And there are all kinds of others. I try not to worry about these things. I try to take a more interested observer stance. 11 or 21 or 31. Each life is different. Each person is interested in different things. You can always find things to worry about if you want. This is something I don’t want to worry about. But I have to admit that I do think about it.