Is it weird to have a bond with a kid who isn't mine?

[Billybob46]

I know him from the neighborhood, we get along great and his parents like me, he says I'm like a big brother to him.

[D_Bone_Steak]

It's normal. Shared interests and/or hobbies are what facilitate pretty much any relationship.

We live in a world though, that has most of us paranoid about sexual predators or paranoid about looking like one. Media has really done a number on the general population to where they think anything has some sexual connotation to it. True... sex can be a shared interest... but it's perfectly normal to both just be interested in guitar, hunting, and normal non-sexual stuff. Beware of someone who has the "media-brain" going on though...

You ever run into one of those weirdos that hates Trump, but they can't tell you why? They support Ukraine and can't point it out on a map? They assume you're killing people by not getting your COVID booster shots? They judge people based on race, but then call other people racist and call themselves anti-racist?

These are the ones with "media-brain" and one of the things they'll have on their mind, is applying sex to everything. They will see you and a kid that isn't yours... and you already know what they're thinking. It doesn't matter if they can observe you two only doing shit like playing chess... their media-brain's are programmed to accuse you of what they've been conditioned to think. So I do give some caution to this even though I think it's normal when there is a shared hobby/interest.

On a side note... this is why I also knock women who think a random guy orbiting her is "Just a friend" or "Just a nice guy." If I can observe there is no tangible interest or hobby shared between the two... I already know there's a trade-off of sexual interest and attention-seeking going on there. "Can men and women just be friends" is another topic that overlaps with this one... and I maintain my position of first questioning if there is a shared interest/hobby and what is it. I wouldn't condone drug use for instance. ... but I'll never understand people who use substances as a bonding technique with other people. I drink alone and prefer to be alone while I get fucked up. None of that applies to you though, right?

Remember Alexander the Great, had a mentor for years... Aristotle. Kids that just hang out with other kids grow up and their mind is retarded after that.

[handsomelad70]

When I was 14 in '67, I bonded with a 55-year-old baseball fan named Johnny Robinson. After school, I would often go to his place and we'd talk about the MBL teams Johnny saw when he was 14 in the 20's. He had lots of scrapbooks and some autographs he'd show me. It never occurred to me to bring Johnny to my house to meet my parents-my baseball-mad father probably would have liked him-but not a hint of creepiness emanated from Johnny, who was just an older baseball fan bonding with a younger one.

[kylee2437]

As long as the parents see no harm, I don’t see how it’s a problem

[rosemilk]

not really

[Billlewis]

Hopefully, I'll experience this dynamic, if/when my dream of marrying a woman who is pregnant with another guy's baby comes true.

[Jamie05rhs]

I've had that before. In one of my former jobs, we had a lot of kids as customers. And one of the dudes was really cool, and he used to always come by and say "what's up." He was like my little homey.

[CozyCoffin]

Not at all. That's why programs like BigBrotherBigSister exist, to give kids a mentor.

[Akam93]

No it's not weird.