Favoritism

The issue of favoritism is one that truly gets under my skin. I feel that it puts a divide amongst children, which can have long lasting effect. I’ll use my family as an example. My grandmother favored one of my cousins because of the length of her hair and the complexion of her skin. It put a wedge amongst the cousins and between her and her siblings. My grandmothers comments, which she thought were innocent, hurt feelings and made some self-conscious. As a parent, I have sworn never to do this to my children or future nieces and nephews. Although my husband agrees with me on this issue and see what a negative impact this can be others aren’t so “aware”. I have heard comments made and actions displayed that have made me uncomfortable and I feel may lead to future issues when my child and his cousins are more able to understand the magnitude of the comments being made. Sometimes I wonder am I being overly sensitive when comments are made comparing my son to others, for example his complexion or hair texture or the fact that he’s the only boy. I don’t want there to be any animosity. So do you believe favoritism is an issue? If so how do you deal with it?