Our little girl is 4 1/2 now and she has come to play 'favorites' from day to day between me and her mom. She is as temperamental as the day is long and has always been a pretty moody child. Still, it is a challenge when you realize that you are not the 'favorite' of the day. It's challenging to remain entirely neutral on this, but I try my best, feeling that to be swayed by it too much would just be feeding into the whole thing. Also, even though she may have a favorite initially that often changes as the day progresses--not to the opposite of favoring the other parent, but it mellows as the day gets underway. There are so many twists and turns with parenting that are anything but obvious that one is constantly having to check one's equilibrium. This is a good thing and it gives way to a baseline of caregiving. No matter what your child says to you, you are still there to take care of them, meet their needs, and love them. I'm sure this gets harder to remain neutral about once they get beyond a certain age. I, as her father, have less ambiguity and tolerance in the sense of boundaries with my daughter and perhaps this makes me 'less popular' by default at times. I accept that, but I am still human and these things still affect me. Mostly, I always come back to "You are my daughter. I am your Dad, and it is my responsibility to protect you and look out for you and teach you the best way to be in the best way that I know." This is my default self-soothing mantra. God knows, every parent out there needs one...or so I imagine. So, on we go with this parenting relationship in which we are all learning so much. Sometimes I'm not sure who's learning more or who's really 'teaching' who, Shayla or myself, and not that it matters, but it bears mentioning, if for nothing nothing more than to point out that the act of parenting continues to show itself as the greatest teacher of my life....and that is no small aside.