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7 Ways To Deal With Favouritism In Your Kids

5 min read
7 Ways To Deal With Favouritism In Your Kids

It’s a hard truth, but kids often favour one parent over another.

At various points in their life, often started when they’re toddlers or even earlier, they constantly reach for one parent over the other, leaving some people hurt.

So what’s a parent to do when their own child doesn’t seem to want to do anything with them, and constantly rejects them in favour of their other parent? Well, here are a few things we’d suggest, just to get you through it.

7 Ways To Deal With Favouritism In Your Kids

1. Don’t React Negatively

7 Ways To Deal With Favouritism In Your Kids | Stay At Home Mum
via shutterstock.com

This is a totally normal stage of your child’s development, so the last thing you want to do is react negatively when they express their favouritism. Kids shouldn’t feel guilty for loving their parent, and even if favouritism is present, you can’t make kids feel bad about that. While it certainly does sting when kids express more love for one parent over another, anger about the situation should be avoided at all costs.

2. Make Sure Each Parent Works

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When the workload between parents isn’t shared equally, it’s easy to see how favouritism can blossom. For example, if one parent is always doing the chores, taking care of basic needs, cooking and so on, while the other parent seems to be playing all the time, it’s no surprise that kids tend to enjoy the playful parent more. This is also true when parents fall into a good cop/bad cop routine around discipline, where one parent is always taking care of the disciplining, leading kids to think that the other parent is more easy going and loveable. In this case, it’s best to change things up so both parents are equally firm in discipline and punishments as required.

3. Understand There’s A Reason

7 Ways To Deal With Favouritism In Your Kids | Stay At Home Mum
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Kids often favour the parent they get to see less, which can really hurt the parent who acts as a primary caregiver and feels as though they’re putting in all the hard work just so the other parent can get the love. However, when you unpack the reason behind this favouritism, it’s much easier to understand it. To kids, there’s a sense of urgency involved and they feel like they really need to see and spend time with that parent while they have them. Understand that it’s just a phase, there’s a logical reason behind it, and they definitely don’t love you less, despite what their unfiltered mouths might say.

Next Page: More Ways To Deal With Favouritism In Your Kids

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About Author

Oceana Setaysha

Senior Writer A passionate writer since her early school days, Oceana has graduated from writing nonsense stories to crafting engaging content for...Read Morean online audience. She enjoys the flexibility to write about topics from lifestyle, to travel, to family. Although not currently fulfilling the job of parent, her eight nieces and nephews keep her, and her reluctant partner, practiced and on their toes. Oceana holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Writing and Indonesian, and has used her interest in languages to create a career online. She's also the resident blonde at BarefootBeachBlonde.com, where she shares her, slightly dented, wisdom on photography, relationships, travel, and the quirks of a creative lifestyle. Read Less

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