As Parents Do We Have Favorites?

As I was growing up, I used to think that parents definitely had favorites. My sister and I were so completely different, how could they not like one of us better than the other? I was sweet whereas my sister was extremely moody. Once we reached teen years I turned a bit rebellious while my sister got great grades and never got into trouble. Of course they had to have a favorite.

It wasn't until I had my own children that I understood that liking certain aspects of each child's personality didn't mean that you had a favorite. With four children, three teenager daughters and a seven-year-old son, there is a wide variety of personality traits. Each child has things I enjoy about them. And things I don't particularly care for.

My oldest daughter is the sweetest, most compassionate, and caring person I have ever met. She always thinks about others. She is always the first to ask if I need her help or if there is anything I need her to do. On the flip side, the filter from her brain to her mouth seems to be broken. If a thought pops into her brain you can be fairly certain it will come flying out of her mouth whether it's appropriate or not. Now sometimes this can be amusing, but most of the time it embarrasses her, or can be pretty rude.

My middle daughter is strong, smart, funny, and very easy to talk to. She can also be somewhat mean, very moody, and occasionally disrespectful, though her filter seems to be working just fine. She is also a bit lazy which is definitely my pet peeve. She attempts to pawn all her chores off on one of her siblings. I am worried about her mouth when she is at school, if someone seems to disrespect her whether adult or student, she will let them know exactly what she thinks about them and the fact that they were disrespectful. My favorite thing about her though is her sarcasm and quick wit.

My youngest daughter is a hard worker, sweet, loving and usually puts her all into everything, unless it happens to be chores, she always has a smile and lets nothing get her down. She is too quiet; we have had teachers who never learned to spell her name and would sometimes forget she was even there. She rarely sticks up for herself, she can get pretty dang snippy when she wants to, she seems to have difficulty expressing herself, and she a bit wishy washy but that is also a good thing, she just doesn't wasn't to hurt anyone's feelings.

My son is a constant source of amusement. Some of the things that come out of his mouth have me laughing for days. He is smart, caring, sweet, and quick. He is also moody, yells when he is not getting his way, expects to have everyone to do everything for him, and has a fairly sharp tongue. Though he does love to help with any outside jobs and a day never goes by without him telling us he loves us about two hundred times.

When I look at my children I realize I could never pick a favorite. I love them with all my heart, even when they are driving me nuts. I also like each of them for certain aspects of their personalities. I think that most parents notice and appreciate the differences in their children that make them special and individuals. That is a wonderful thing to find and allow to bloom on your children. So I guess all my children are my favorites just in different ways.