More than one child....

[Carey2006]

Do you tend to favor one child over another??? How do you keep yourself in check ???

I was the oldest and my hubby was the second born and we both experienced being the 'forgotten child'. This makes me nervous when thinking about having another child...I don't want one child ever to feel as tho they are an 'outsider'/second best.

[moodywife]

I love my kids equal,you will always love them the same but different,I never understood how you could do that. My son was almost 4 the day my daughter was born (11 days apart on bdays) and even then I was asking my mom how I would love them the same. She always told me that I would but different,and its true. I love my 6 yr old Preston because even though he is SOOOO whiney sometimes,he makes me feel good about myself,telling me I am beautiful etc,he also tells me I need to lose weight but hey I love him because he is honest,I love my 2 yr old Jennalynn because she says off the wall things and she is FUNNY and soooo smart,and mY 6 month old Dakota because everytime he sees me he smiles,believe me you will always love them the same,but in different ways.

[Elizabeth4980]

I always love my kids the same, but frankly, I don't always LIKE them the same. I have three and as they go through different struggles and phases and interests it seems like there is always one that I connect with more or who is much less stressful to deal with and so whose company I enjoy more.  But it isn't one child all the time, it changes.  I always have really good babies so if there is a newborn in the house, that one tends to be my favorite.  Once they start crawling and walking and getting into everything though and start to be so much work, I enjoy spending time with them a little less.  My kids at 3 tend to get very whiny and tantrumy for about a year or two (they save their terrible twos for age 3/4) so if anyone is 3 they probably aren't top on my list at the moment.  My 8yo has started to read chapter books and I love to read so we have had a lot more to talk about lately so i'm really enjoying his company.

I mean, of course I always love them, and even when i'm not especially enjoying someone's company, I still go out of my way to try and make sure they get equal alone time and equal attention and whatnot, but to say that I feel exactly the same about all of them all the time wouldn't be true.

But no there is not one that I always prefer over the others.

[srhtinker1981]

My parents do that now still, there pretty looney so that's my excuse for not festering on the fact.

My 2 boys are different just like any child, so my love for each one is different, no less no more.

[StephanieSH]

My son is a lot of work and requires a lot of attention.  I worry that my daughter gets the short end of the stick because she's more easy going.  Over the years we have seen different behaviorists for my son, taken him to occupational therapy, etc. and I always worried that my second was missing out on attention from me.  It's interesting though because my son thinks we favor our daughter even though he's the one that tends to get more attention.

[steelcrazy]

I have 2 boys (as most of you know lol) and I love them both very, very much.  I just couldn't imagine living without either one of them.  I love them both for different reason and I do different things with each of them.

Something interesting that I have learned over the years and more so since becoming a mom myself, is that every child feels like mom likes the other sibling(s) more than them.  I always thought that my sis was the fave and she always thought that I was the fave.  Now my boys are the same way.  I think that it is something that you don't truely understand until you are a parent of more than one kid yourself.

[kmrtigger]

 I have to say that I treat all my boys equally. They each get a day alone with me even if it's just to snuggle and read a book in my bedroom. I also make sure to pay attention to what they are doing and give a pat on the back. So far I haven't heard any complaints of one being favored over the other more. I try not to do this b/c my mom had her favorite and still does. I love all my boys the same and they know this.

[soymujer]

If you ask my kids, they will say that I favor Austen, the youngest.  That isn't true.  He gets all my attention because he's an active little 4 year old and the minute I take my eye off of him, he's in trouble.  I like to spend one on one time with all my kids. My daughter and I will have a girls day since we are the only girls and I try to do something with just one of the boys that's special to them.

[-42-]

Since my two are so far apart in ages(9&3), I do feel like I'm favoring the little one sometimes. But the older one is more independent and expectations are about and beyond what they are for the youngest.

[CrazedMomof2]

I have 2 kids. I do favor them each for different things! They are so different from eachother!