My son is going to live with his dad

My son just turned 14 and he's been asking to go live with his dad for a while now. He wouldn't be far but wouldn't be close either, his father's and I co-parenting relationship has been crap since I told him he couldn't be in the delivery room.My son said it's not that he doesn't want to live with me, but that he just wants to live with his dad more. He said he loves me, he really does but that he has a different type of relationship with his dad, that he feels more comfortable with his dad and can talk to him about more stuff. Then he said something that really hurt “I wish dad had been my main caregiver since birth, probably would of bit happier”, he talks a lot about his dad raising him to be a man and that I can't do that, at least not like his father can.He's 14, if he wants to live with his dad then he can, it just hurts really bad. I thought my son and I had an amazing relationship but I guess not. I've cried because I've tried so damn hard to give him the best experience possible and it wasn't enough. Part of me doesn't understand it, yes he and his father have more in common like sports, cars, roughhousing and boyish things but his dad is also a lot stricter than I am, way quicker to punish for something minor.But I realized something, he's really always been like this. Hearing “I'm proud of you” from his dad meant a whole hell of a lot more than it did coming from me. He'd tell his dad secrets but not me. When he was younger and would draw something he was proud of but he didn't rush to show me, in fact he didn't care if saw his drawing or not, he just wanted his dad to see it. His dad would always be the first he'd run to, when something didn't go his way he would rather not tell his dad. His father's approval of him means more than my approval of him.My friends say “don't worry, he'll realize that dad's isn't the fantasy Dreamland he'd had in his mind and want to come back home in no time!” But I know that isn't true. He prefers his dad, always has. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/33JXft1