That’s good parenting right there.

Favoritism is a dark underbelly of many families, and it’s important to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. A parent might favor one kid over the other and not even realize it until someone points it out and gives them a chance to correct their behavior. But sometimes favoritism can be so subtle that only the kid who is not favored notices. That can easily be dismissed as petty sibling jealousy, going unaddressed until the damage has already been done.

Favoritism is often illogical. It’s very common for parents to favor the more delinquent child over the child who always does everything right, showering the former with attention for their bad behavior. Sometimes a parent will favor a child for their gender, something a child has no control over, and it is no indication of moral goodness. Even favoring a kid for understandable reasons, like shared interests, is still unacceptable behavior for a parent or a grandparent. Adults always think that kids won’t notice if they treat their siblings differently from how they treat them, and that has never been the case. Kids are way more observant than you’d think, even when they are little.