This blog is (as has often been the case) inspired by a WhatsApp texting conversation with my old friend who is visiting his mother in Rome.
He has two younger siblings (a brother and a sister), so I asked which one of them is the closest to the mother. He came back with their geographical proximity to her, so I had to explain that I was looking for an emotional perspective, adding what the default situation is in a lot of Chinese families.
There are five of us children in my family, with four girls and a boy.
By default, the boy, especially if he is the only one, is the favourite.
Being the youngest, I'm also, by default, a favourite.
Another criterion is: scholastic performance. Good school results almost always ensure one's place in the heart(s) of the parent(s), if not the extended family as well.
I remember wondering, when I was still at school: "What if I was born ugly and stupid?"
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