I Don’t Have A Favorite Child,

But I Have An Easier Child.

If you have more than one child you are likely aware that your children- born from the exact same gene pool- can be drastically different. On a daily basis it never seizes to amaze me how different my two kids can be. My husband and I didn’t make any different parenting decisions with either of them and we continue to see contrasting behaviors on a daily basis that makes me question them even being related. 

Want to hear something really interesting? My harder child was harder from the start. That child required fertility to conceive, and at one point they thought something was wrong with the baby. I had restrictions for 1/3 of my pregnancy that didn’t allow me to fly, walk long distances, or lift anything over 5 lbs. When the baby was born I felt like I didn’t sleep for months- for a stretch of time we were getting woken up every 45 minutes and it felt awful.

At one point I remember crying when  my husband left for work because I was jealous of him and told him “I don’t want to be a mom at night anymore.”

But I really meant “I don’t want to be a mom anymore” – I blame it on exhaustion and the fact that I had no clue when I would sleep again.

It was rough. Fast forward a few years- the terrible twos were EXTREMELY terrible and while in many ways this child has gotten easier, I still find this to be my difficult one. Very strong- willed and determined, which will make this child a wonderful CEO one day but makes them slightly tough to parent. 

My easier child was extremely easy to conceive and the pregnancy was a dream. When this child was a newborn I had to wake them up because the stretches of sleep were going past the 5 and 6 hour mark (for a newborn, ya’ll!). There was no sleep training and not much crying (from me or the baby).

It was like a whole new world had opened up before me. I had NO idea newborns could actually sleep and be easy. Since then this child has remained easy- full of sunshine and laughter and rarely getting upset.

The two experiences were so drastically different that it stunned me. 

It amazes me on a daily basis how unalike my two are but I have to think in every family that one child is the most difficult and one is the easiest.

It’s hard to not show favoritism to the child that is so much easier because I love them exactly the same.

What I don’t love the same is their behaviors- and depending on the day that shifts. If one is folding my laundry and one is whining… well then I guess you could say I do have a favorite at that moment.

Do you have a child that is easier?