Dad follows ‘favourite child system’ with his daughters in a bid to motivate them

A dad has revealed he uses a ‘favourite child system’ with his daughters in a bid to motivate them to succeed – and it’s likely to divide opinion among other parents.

Davy Nguyen has three daughters – Angelique, 20, Trinity, 18, and Siobhan, 14 – and says he is open and honest with them about which is his favourite child, and has been for 10 years.

The dad says he monitors their behaviour, habits and school performances, and recalculates the rankings of his children every few months.

The daughter identified to be the ‘favourite’ will get privileges the others don’t, as Davy says it encourages those who have fallen out of favour to work harder to win his approval again.

The family appeared on SBS’s Insight, where each of the children discussed why they consider themselves to be their dad’s favourite offspring – saying it’s ‘upsetting’ when they don’t win the title.

Davy told Kidspot that the daughter he picks as favourite will get their favourite meals on request, get more time on social media, and are allowed to spend more time with friends.

When the other two are told they haven’t made it, he says: “They know that to be the favourite child, they must work harder and improve in certain areas.”

Davy claims the system teaches his children that they won’t always get things their own way, and helps them build resilience to become “the best version of themselves”.

He says he teaches them all “cooking skills, communication, entrepreneurship and basic finance” and if any of them excel in those areas he lets them know they are his favourite for the “next month or two”.

“My daughters know that I am looking after their best interests,” he added: “I want to empower them to fight for their dreams – but they have to be the best of the best in this crazy world.”