by Crystal Shimo

Created on: August 22, 2009

Tears filled my eyes as my mother took hold of my sisters hand and walked her to the living room, where she turned on cartoons and I was told to stay in bed because I was bad. Each time I had been punished, I thought my mother was choosing to love my sister more than me. Especially since I seemed to be getting into trouble for a lot of things that she did. Mother never believed that my learning disabled sister could cause so much trouble. It was frustrating, and I felt as if I wasn't good enough.

Now that I'm a mother of my own, I understand what my mother was going through. My sister deserved to be rewarded more because she was developmentally impaired. Whereas, I often excelled at things and was expected to continue to do so. Growing up, I never realized that she wasn't preferring one of us over the other. Now, I understand that one of us needed that much more attention, but she still loved both of us just as equally.

My daughters, constantly fight for attention from my husband and I. We try to give it to each of them, but to be human is to be imperfect. Both of my daughters excel at anything they put their minds to, and we try to reward them. Both my husband and I try to show our love to each of them in different ways. Every person is different and understands things in different ways. Our daughters are no exception.

Love from a parent to a child should be unconditional. Whether the child does bad, or good, parental love is there. My mother showed her love for me by taking me shopping, and getting me new things, even though we couldn't always afford it. While she showed her love for my sister by sitting down and helping with her homework without asking.

With no two people being alike, the psychology of children tends for them to believe that when you are showing love to another, you do not love them. That is how I was, and from time to time, my young children voice that concern. My oldest daughter has an outgoing personality, and I love her for who she is. Just as much as I love my youngest for being different from her sister, and introverted. I love them both equally, but in different ways for different reasons.

Learn more about this author, Crystal Shimo.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.