There are many taboos when it comes to parenting. Spanking your child when they are naughty or on the flip side, not disciplining them enough are just some examples of controversial parenting techniques.
But while parents all have their own individualistic methods for raising their kids, they usually have one thing in common - they absolutely adore their children.
However, one mom has challenged the idea that you have to like your children unconditionally. While the mom-of-three loves her eldest child, she doesn't like her and can't even stand being around her.
Sharing her story with Kidspot, the anonymous mom said that while she doesn't have a favorite child, she does have a least favorite - her eldest.
She said: "Yes, I have a child that I like the least but it’s actually worse than that... because the truth is, I don’t actually like her 95 percent of the time. Yes, I dislike my eldest child and I can’t stand to be around her."
According to the mom, she adores her younger two kids - a boy and a girl. While they are not perfect, she says, she enjoys spending time with them. But she hasn't felt this way about her nine-year-old daughter Lilly for a while.
The mom explained: "When she was a baby, I felt for her the way I felt for my other two children when they were that age. But when Lilly got a bit older, pre-school age, around three years old and her real personality started to emerge, that was when my feelings toward her began to change."
However, she also clarified that her dislike for Lilly's personality doesn't mean she doesn't love her. "I do love her," she maintained. "She is my child and she could do anything, and I would still love her, I just don’t like her and there is a difference."
She went on: "It is Lilly’s personality, who she is and how she behaves that I don’t like. She is sullen, selfish, bratty and creates drama constantly. She does it at school, at home, in her netball club and refuses to admit her faults, or work on them, or listen to why she has annoyed someone or upset them.
"I clash with her constantly, when I try to hold her accountable for things, I end up frustrated and angry. Even when we are on holiday and I try and really let it go and just have fun, I end up fed up with Lilly about an hour in and find myself avoiding her at all costs."
It's gotten to the point where she has asked her husband to take over completely with Lilly's parenting.
She added: "I ask him to take her to her sports training, to any events or parties she is going to, to help her with her homework, to discipline her, and to supervise her on the weekends. Ultimately, I just can’t stand to be around her and for the sake of both her and I, it is best if I am not as much as possible."
The mom insists that she has tried to work on her relationship with her daughter by spending quality time with her, to no avail.
She concluded: "I hope that in time Lilly will change. I hope these trying parts of her personality will calm down and that she will evolve as she matures because I don’t want to feel this way forever.
"I want to enjoy my time with her, I want to like her just like I like her siblings."
