We were stopped at a light about half a car length behind a black SUV with a shaka sign stuck to the drivers' side rear window.

My 4-year-old asked me to roll down her window.

I obliged and she immediately started waving frantically and yelling, "Hi!"

"Why are you saying 'hi' to him?" I asked her.

"Because I love him," she said matter-of-factly.

When I asked why, she said, "Because he's lovely. He has a lovely car. He's my favorite boy."

The light turned green and the SUV driver pulled away without ever acknowledging my daughter.

"Why didn't he say 'hi' to me?" she asked despondently.

"Because he didn't see you," I tried to console her. "I think you're a little young for him anyway."

I find it incredibly disconcerting that my 4-year-old is trying to pick up guys from the back seat — based on the car he was driving, no less.

Why would a 4-year-old be crushing on some guy just like a teenager anyway? It's bizarre.

I remember chaperoning one of my son's kindergarten field trips way back when and all the girls were talking about which boy band members were their boyfriends.

I thought it was too early then, but figured it must be something that goes on in their homes.

As far as I know, I'm not checking out guys in the cars next to me and commenting on their physical or material attributes. She has to be picking it up somewhere else.

I don't even remember thinking of the opposite sex much until I was 10. What's happening to today's kids that it starts so much earlier?

More importantly, how do I make it stop?

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.