Anonymous wrote:Freud explained this phenomenon as the Oedipus Complex.
I was just thinking of this!
The Oedipus complex was more or less disproven, but in the context of doing that, they did find that young children tend to have more positive dreams and fantasies (not sexual fantasies...childhood fantasies) about the opposite sex parent. I can’t remember what they were exactly, and I’m not finding it on a quick google search. But I think they were something like preferring to imagine going on a trip with the opposite gendered parent over the same gendered parent.
I also think, as a parent, that I unconsciously tend to be more forgiving of my boys than I do my girl. Looking back, I don’t expect them to be as emotionally aware. And my husband is the same with our girl. He doesn’t expect her to be quite as brave or assertive as the boys. I don’t know.