<p>I'm with Lafalum.....but I think my reason has more to do with the fact that things always seem to work out for S1 no matter what he does or doesn't do, but for S2 there always seem to be unexpected bumps along the way that make his journey more difficult. For his part, S2 fights the attention by keeping us in the dark most of the time & trying to work things out on his own. I give him credit for his independence, but by not asking for advice (we don't solve his problems for him) he is sometimes not as proactive as he could be in dealing with things.</p>
<p>I agree with shellfell but mine are the opposite. S1 required hovering, prodding, nagging to get organized and get things done on time. He encountered Murphy's Law more than anyone should have to. And I didn't want to hover. I spent more all-nighters with him finishing papers than I did during my own college career. I told him more than once that I had a Ph.D., I did not need to retake History 101 again. We got through it, and he's now working toward a career he's interested in</p>
<p>S2 was much more self-reliant from an early age--probably also because he absorbed what was said to his brother. I helicopter a bit--or try to--because I'm loathe to let go. S1 stayed home to go to school and has only been away for a semester of grad school. S2 has left immediately after high school. </p>
<p>With S2 I worry about the little details that he hasn't had the experience of. He tends to not speak up when he has a question and prefer to try and figure things out for himself. However, I'm delighted to see from some of the situations he's encountered already with registration and scheduling, that he's already figured things out effiiciently.</p>