21-year-old's car breaks down, parents fix it and give it to 17-year-old brother instead: 'Somehow he deserves my car more than I do'

Is parental favoritism something that adult children should just put up with?

There are plenty of people who like to claim that all parents have favorites, and this becomes an issue when this favoritism becomes blatantly obvious. Having more than one kid is always going to be a balancing act of making sure everybody gets the same amount of positive attention, but some moms and dads are more than happy to completely ignore this issue.

Naturally, this is something that children can pick up on from a young age. The issue only gets more pressing as they get older and realize just how unfair it can be when parents blatantly favor one kid and disparage another. At its worst, the best way to deal with it as a non-favored child is to disengage with this behavior as much as possible. It is not good for anybody's mental health.

That being said, it is sometimes difficult to get away from a situation like this, no matter how much somebody might want to. Waiting it out can be painful, but there are times when it turns out to be the only way forward. It is upsetting to deal with in the meantime.