My daughter's son, whom I'll call David, has been very "hands on" since he found his penis several years ago (he's now age 7). When his masturbation became too frequent and too obvious to ignore, his parents told him that his "boy exercises" (as he calls it) should be private and confined to his room. He seemed to get that message and we seldom saw the behaviour after that. However, in the past year, it seems to have crept out of his bedroom and he often has quick little rubs, which are easy to overlook, but are not going to go away.
Then - at a recent family get-together, he tried to rub himself against his 7 year old cousin who, in any case, doesn't like a lot of close physical affection and who simply shoved him aside. David then moved on to his much younger boy cousin and appeared to rub himself against the little boy's bottom, the younger boy being oblivious to the situation and probably thought it was a game if he thought anything.
I don't know who else - if anyone - witnessed these or other similar events, but my husband and I both saw it. And now we are wondering if this goes on at school or in other social situations. Surely it was not confined to just this time and place.
So - what do we do? I feel that I need to speak to my daughter about this but want to come across as concerned rather than as accusing. ANY constructive suggestions or guidance either in having a discussion with my daughter and/or in dealing with the behaviour would be most welcome.
sticky labels on apples - remove before washing!