Can you like one child more than the other?

Every child needs to feel loved and special in order to thrive. Parents say that they love and cherish their children equally to avoid feeling their own guilt and shame, but often they simply don’t. The bottom line is that you’re no less of a parent for feeling closer to one of your children. It’s normal.

What happens when a parent has a favorite child?

Effects of parental favoritism, left unchecked, can be long lasting. A 2010 study titled Mothers’ Differentiation and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Children found siblings who sensed that their mom consistently favored or rejected one child over another were more likely to exhibit depression in middle age.

Is it possible for a parent to not love their child?

If the parents were hurt in their developmental years, they will have problems accepting love and intimacy from their children. Faced with the emotional pain that it causes them, parents will unconsciously distance themselves from their child. 4. Parents have unresolved trauma in their own lives.

Is it normal to favor one child more than the other?

Favoring one child over another is a thing, but before you freak out, take a deep breath, and address the elephant in the family room—favoritism does not mean you love one child more than the other. It does, however, mean you’re giving one child more attention than their siblings.

Is it bad to give one child more attention than siblings?

It does, however, mean you’re giving one child more attention than their siblings. As innocent as that may sound, it’s not, and can have consequences for all your children throughout their lives, affecting their relationships with each other, and with you. Find out 13 ways to stop sibling rivalry before it starts.

Why does one child get more time than the other?

They don’t say why one child gets more time than another. If they do explain it, however, it alleviates the resentment. They are preserving their bond with each child, who are probably perceiving the favoritism, and reasons for it, all wrong,” says Dr. Newman.

What will happen if a parent does nothing?

So if a parent does nothing, their children will become quite schooled in the dark arts of self-indulgence. Therefore, parents must constrain their children to right behavior. In time their moral understanding will develop and they will begin to choose good, even when it is contrary to their carnal desires.