I hate it when I mess it up

So this weekend we took my son away to school.  He is a freshman and is living on campus less than an hour away from our home. 

He is a wonderful young man, with lots of characteristics to admire.  However, planning is not one of his strong suits.  Therefore, as his father, I often have had to help him stay on task with the non-fun things in life.  I hate it because they are not fun for me either, but I feel like it is my obligation.

So we bring him up to school.  It is a very emotional time for us.  We are close to him and have invested alot into his life.  We are going to have to leave him alone, and having graduated a year early he looks a little young to be a college student.

Instead of spending the few hours we were together discussing our feelings and how we can pray for him and be there for him when he needs us, I was Mr. fact man.  I spent 3 hours reminding him of details on how to succeed.  What to do and what not to do in his dorm, things to think about for class, getting his books, not getting in trouble with the RA's etc.  Some days I am just full of details, and I was just vomiting them out all over him.

I missed the relating, because of the explaining.  He and I both lost out, and  would bet he only remembers 10% of what I shared, anyway  Because he probably turned me off halfway through the day, we both missed the value of the relating I finally got around to at the end.

I hope you can learn from this confession and not miss your own opportunity to relate to your kids.