We've all heard about middle child syndrome, that poor unfortunate squeezed between the eldest and the youngest, but what about youngest child syndrome?
That's the monster we create by defending him or her in squabbles, letting off chores and generally treating as just that little bit special.
Well even if I didn't want to admit to it I've been accused of all these misdemeanours by my eldest two and you know what they're probably right.
One example - or should that be indictment - my eldest does the ironing for some extra pocket money, my youngest mops the kitchen floor. One job takes at least an hour the other fifteen minutes and that's if it's done properly – which, by the way, it rarely is. Not an even a workload is it?
But it's not a conscious thing. I don't think eldest 3/10, youngest 9/10, therefore he gets the easy job, I just don't think!
But along with safety we can always take comfort in numbers, it isn't just me who inadvertently
favours my youngest. A survey of 1800 mums and dads carried out by Bounty showed that 60VIRTUAL-Gallery-125590%