Bocelli sings the Lord's Prayer & Kids Help Their Parents Through the College Admission Process

I hesitate to EVER call myself a "singer" again after watching this rendition of the Lord's Prayer from Andrea Bocelli . How does he DO that??? That's a LONG stream of beautiful air coming out of his lungs. The choir and orchestra aren't bad either... (hat top to my Bible study leader, Heather)

We're looking at various college options for Jason in 18 months. One website offered the following helpful advice for prospective university students:

• Helping Your Parents Through This Process

  For parents, sending a child off to college is a big deal. ...Your parent(s) may feel lots of different things, and sometimes conflicting things at the same time. High hopes for you. Pride and a fierce determination that you go to a "good enough" school. Anxiety about your happiness and safety. Nervousness about what they see as a very big step for you. Grief that you are unmistakably growing up. Uncertainty about how to pay the tuition. Inadequacy, if they feel they can't help you with the admissions process. Frustration, because they can't control the outcome for you. An intense desire to help you - coupled with a desire not to interfere too much (as you can imagine, this can be a particularly hard pair of feelings to juggle). If you're applying to schools of the caliber of MIT, they may be worried that you won't get in - and equally worried that you will.

  Some parents cope with their feelings by paying a lot of attention to the college search process, others by being totally hands-off. Most come down somewhere in between....

  • If you would like more help and support from your parents, or less, or a different kind, dare to talk with them about it. Try letting them know that you understand how they're feeling, and then asking them to make a change. Your parents can be incredibly helpful in sorting through your college choices. Most likely, no one knows you better or cares more about how the world treats you. But it really helps to face the process as a unified team, with shared expectations.

  • If you and your parents are having a hard time striking the right balance between hands-on and hands-off, one practical tactic is to choose a few specific items on your long list of pre-college tasks and assign them to your parents. Of course, the big, substantive jobs should all go to you - things like deciding on your final list of schools, writing your essays, making calls to the admissions office, scheduling your interview. But there are plenty of other roles for your parents, if they're interested. Some likely tasks include planning college tours, keeping track of application deadlines...

So insightful and healthy-sounding! May God help us to strike the right balance.

Posted via email from K's Café