What Happened When My Spirited Child Grew Up

For my first few years as a mother, I figured I had this parenting thing in the bag. My husband and I were quick to pat ourselves on the back for the splendid job we were doing with our perfect child—a compliant, sweet, easygoing, happy boy who seemed to follow to the letter all of the developmental timelines laid out in the parenting books and the pediatrician’s handouts.

Since parenting came so “easy” for us, we were anxious to add on to our family. Mother Nature had different ideas, howev...