Childhood is such a magical time. As a parent, I feel even more pressure to preserve this sanctity for my own children. Based on pure anecdote, I have noticed a trend: if there are at least two children in a family, there are two archetypes: a favorite and a performer.
The favorite in the family was the one that was, knowingly or unknowingly, doted on. Parents were well meaning, but they probably unintentionally engaged in enabling relationships with the favorite. This has consequences when it comes to our harsh, competitive world.
The performer, on the other hand, was someone who had to prove herself.
I do consider myself the performer in my family. It was... (read more)
UptoDate for sure. Pubmed for research that is also cross referenced in google scholar.