Parenting is Like a Lifelong Game of Dodgeball

On a sunny day years ago, I called my husband in hysterics, trying to relay to him what had just gone down (literally) on the driveway of our home. As I was unloading groceries from the car, my then-five-year-old daughter decided to buckle my two-year-old son into their toy jeep – whether she decided to “let it rip” or he pushed off, remains disputed to this day.

She screamed, I spotted the jeep upside down in the brush at the bottom of the hill, and my son emitted terrified cries. Panicked,...