"Because you like her better"

Is it a parenting fail when one of your children fully believes you like his sister better than him? Is it also a parenting fail when you let the little sister get away with murder, simply because she pitches a bigger fit and is entirely more unreasonable than him, and therefore it's no wonder he believes that?

Last night, when I gave Lorelai the banana she was begging for to pacify her while I cooked dinner, Logan and Aidan both asked for one as well. I simply asked if they wouldn't mind waiting until dinner, and Logan's response broke my heart. He said, "but you gave Lorelai her banana already." When I asked why he thought I did that, with tears in his eyes, he responded quitely "because you like her better."

The answer I was going for was more along the lines of "she was near the hot stove crying and reaching for a banana and she's still a baby and doesn't understand how to be patient yet, let alone the fact that getting under Mommy's feet while she's carrying a pot of boiling water is a terrible idea."

I had no idea that thought was even on his mind. But honestly, I can totally see why he would think that. Heck, my Facebook friends, Instagram followers and blog readers probably think I like Lorelai the best, too, due to the disproportionate number of pictures I take of her compared to the boys.

For the record, it's not true. I reassured Logan that I love all of them the same, even if I sometimes treat them differently. I do coddle Lorelai more, and give in to her whining more than I probably should, and definitely more than I do with the boys. But I explained that since she's younger she can't do as many things for herself, so we all have to help her. (And he really does like to help her, so I think he got it.)

This face. How can you resist this face? None of us can, Aidan and Logan included.

Then I agreed that I was being unfair by not giving him a banana right then, and apologized. I'm really going to have to get better about being fair whenever I can, because I don't want anyone to think I'm playing favorites.

And just as soon as I can get my boys attached to my hip again and not run away whenever I shove the camera in their face, I'll have an equal number of pictures of them to be fair :)