I'm not 100% sure that's the reason, but it's the best I've come up with. We listen to them, knowing that their feelings are genuine and their opinions matter. I don't think this is how most other adults interact with them.

Furthermore, I think boys crave adults other than their parents who care about them. Perhaps that's because boys long to be adults and to be accepted in adult society. In the past I've noticed that some boys brag to other boys about their relationship with me. So, maybe part of it is that being loved and accepted by an adult they aren't related to makes them feel "cool" and mature.

Since you mentioned income, I'll also point out one of the observations I have made in my interaction with higher income boys. There seems to be a negative correlation between income and the amount of time parents spend with their children. In other words, it seems that the more money they have, the less time parents spend with their children (they work longer hours, have more business related travel, have to entertain VIPs on weekends, etc). So, it could be that what looks like the perfect family from the outside is really a family that only really gets to spend any quality time together on the occasional vacation.


Just some of my thoughts.