Liz Atwood discusses whether children favors one parent over another in this week's Tween Tuesday:

Are you the favorite parent?

The notion of the favorite child is fodder for childhood accusations and Smothers Brothers comedy routines, but what do you do when your kid says he loves Dad (or Mom) more?  Dr. Ellen Libby, author of The Favorite Child, writes that children often have a favorite parent and that sometimes parents consciously or unconsciously compete for this title.

Libby points out that love is different from favoritism. She says children may prefer one parent for a brief time or for a lifetime. Naturally, the parent who isn't favored feels jealous and left out. "Parents working as a trusting team can effectively monitor the favored interactions of one parent while being inclusive of the other parent," Libby writes.

Have you had this happen to you? How did you respond?