Hello, we are back with another parenting snapshot with Beckie Whitehouse of Be Confident Coaching. This week we are talking about what to do if your child favours a certain parent, relative or friend.
A child favouring one parent, or indeed any other adult, over another could purely just be her way of asserting her independence and making her own decisions and choices. It is important to say that you should NOT take it personally (however, I know how hard that is! ;-) ) Favouritism can often change from day to day or week to week for any random reason. It could be that whoever is out at work the most is favoured as it’s a novelty to have then around or your child may favour you because you are around most. There is no rhyme nor reason to it.
So, what can we do to help ourselves cope if you are left out of the affections? Remember you are not slighted, don’t take it personally or indeed, remove your love. Prioritise special activities to do together such as going to the park or going to get the paper on a Sunday morning.
If you are the favoured parent, encourage your child to ask the other person to play a game or take them to the park etc.
Share as much as you can and take it turns with normal routines such as bath or bedtime story; maybe alternative each evening.
The key thing is to keep trying, don’t give up and don’t let it get to you. Normality will soon resume ;-)
As ever with our hangouts, we have added the video below so please do take a look for our more, in depth, conversation on this subject.
Has your child ever favoured somebody else over you? How did it make you feel? We would love to hear your stories. Please do leave in the comments below:
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!