Learning to live with lives bumps and bruises is hardest on the parents. Dealing with lots of serious or major stuff might provide some perspective but only to a point.

My son has put us through a lot, he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a major heart defect before he was born. We got through all that, even the hopes and fears that go with getting to the scary open heart surgery on a boy barely 6 months old. There have been plenty of other scary events along the way and you'd think with this background it would be easier to cope with the day in/out bumps and bruises but we still have to work on it with both our kids.

Of course our daughter doesn't make things any easier, she has absolutely no fear and an extreme sense of drama. That means everything that happens, even minor scrapes (which she collects nearly hourly) are an opportunity for waterworks and cries of MOMMY!!! or DADDY!!!!

Its a darned tough balancing act, you want to protect them from everything but you know they have to go out and collect their own set of lessons learned the hard way.

In the long run I am pretty sure my daughter will be my undoing. She is an absolute doll but already a handful. If trends continue as she, uhm... Matures, I don't think I'm going to survive her teen years. Heck, at this rate I'm not sure how I going to make it to her pre-teen years.

- Eric