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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you have a favourite child?

118 replies

outlanderish · 03/07/2025 22:42

Settling a debate with DP. He's convinced you can have a favourite child. What's your verdict?

OP posts:
TheignT · 04/07/2025 09:11

CalliopePlantain · 03/07/2025 22:46

yes. But it changes multiple times a day.

Exactly this.

Goldilocksdidarunner · 04/07/2025 09:10

I have a favourite daughter/preschooler and a favourite son/baby (I have one of each) 😆

Skinthin · 04/07/2025 07:30

outlanderish · 03/07/2025 23:00

No, we have no children as of yet. My POV is you love them the same but will have different bonds. He's under the impression everyone has a favourite child but will never admit it, so wanted opinions from fellow parents!

Show quote history

I think your DH is probably right. I also don’t think people on this thread are being entirely honest- because although in the past it was accepted as normal, today it’s considered deeply taboo.

I think it’s true that you profoundly love all your children and in very different ways , so it’s difficult to compare. But I also think most people secretly have a child they are especially drawn to/ charmed by over the others. Often it’s very obvious and comes out in their behaviour, but more self aware parents are careful at hiding it as they should be.

whispycloud · 04/07/2025 07:26

I have four and genuinely I do not have a favourite.

Goodideaornot · 04/07/2025 07:21

I definitely have one that I find easier abd one that’s harder work. But the harder one is brilliant in other ways. I definitely don’t favour one over the other

Tintackedsea · 04/07/2025 07:10

in this house the cleanest child is my favourite.

CatOnAHotRadiator · 04/07/2025 06:57

I have a favourite daughter and a favourite son. Obviously only one of each. I absolutely love them both the same. They’re very different people but both bring joy and are interesting in their own individual ways. They’re just great

loobyloo1979 · 04/07/2025 06:54

I have a fav baby boy and a fav big boy- they're 20 and 25 🤣

PatsFruitCake · 04/07/2025 06:52

No, when they ask me, I tell them they're all equally annoying.😉 I imagine they feel the same way about me and their Dad.

Roseblooms · 04/07/2025 06:52

My love for them is equal but I am closer to one than the other and that is because they put themselves in my life more than the other. Both young adults and at Uni.

Sulking · 04/07/2025 06:51

I have one of each and I always say “you’re my favourite girl, and you’re my favourite boy”

Sulking · 04/07/2025 06:49

outlanderish · 03/07/2025 22:42

Settling a debate with DP. He's convinced you can have a favourite child. What's your verdict?

Ask him who’s he’s saving from the edge of a cliff.

Thepossibility · 04/07/2025 06:46

Our dog is all of our favourite in our house. Other than that I love them all the same but enjoy whoever is being the easiest and least grumpy at the time.

BrendaTheBlendeer · 04/07/2025 01:09

No, but I do have an easiest child

SprayWhiteDung · 04/07/2025 01:06

redgingerbread · 03/07/2025 22:43

No help but I only have one, so I enjoy telling him he’s my favourite child 😄

I also only have one - but I tell him that he's my least favourite of my children!

(he is a teenager and he gives as good as he gets!)

Biffsboys · 04/07/2025 01:00

I definitely love both of mine equally .. one of them is much easier company and less uptight so find her easier to be around .

mumof4crazyones · 04/07/2025 00:46

My children always say my baby boy is my favourite so I tell them hes not my favourite child hes my favourite son.

5ofthem · 04/07/2025 00:34

5 children, no favourite. All wonderful in their own way. All annoying in their own way also.

ThreePointOneFourOneFiveNine · 04/07/2025 00:29

Definitely no favourite. My kids are very different from each other, one has been a lot more challenging in terms of behaviour than the other, but definitely no favourite.

I grew up thinking my sister was the favourite, and it’s only in recent years talking to her that I’ve discovered she thought I was the favourite.

TolerableISuppose · 04/07/2025 00:25

I honestly could never pick a favourite. My parents were of the, "It's only natural to have a favourite" frame of mind and my mum was pretty open with her ranking. I was never in the top half.

And no, I'm not close to my parents now. 😅

Seventree · 04/07/2025 00:19

I thought I would before I had them. I couldn't imagine not having a favourite and nearly stopped at one for that reason.

But now I have two I could never pick one over the other, they are both my favourite.

steff13 · 04/07/2025 00:02

SomeEsotericJoke · 03/07/2025 22:45

Yeah, I tell each of mine they're my favourite (especially when no one else is listening), because they are!

I tell mine they used to be my favorite but they're not anymore when they're bugging me.

ladycarlotta · 04/07/2025 00:01

The baby is very jolly and cute and has no way of expressing her opinions or making particular demands so she's my favourite because she's easy and seems to like me. My 6yo is challenging, opinionated, complex, dramatic, artistic, wild, obstreperous, picky, curious, stubborn, hard to please and completely unmanageable. I'm sort of in awe of her. I'm so often not up to the challenge but I'm wowed by her every day.

So it's swings and roundabouts isn't it?

Barney16 · 04/07/2025 00:01

When they were teenagers my favourite was which ever one was being the least vile to me

shinycinnamon · 04/07/2025 00:01

This blows my mind. I’m one of 3 and I have 3 children. Do people seriously have a favourite child?
All of my children have different qualities and they also all really annoy me in different ways.
I could not pick a favourite in a million years