Some time ago, I heard a family psychologist compare the typical husband and wife to an accelerator and brake. A good team needs both. This analogy may be inappropriate for some people, but it is fairly accurate for my family.

As an example, my family was staying at a hotel in Missouri this weekend when all the tornados were hitting Missouri and Kansas. I went to bed. Lady Quixote stayed up with the desk clerk watching the weather channel. She came to our room about 2:00 AM saying the Civil Defense had called the hotel and warned them that a tornado was 20 miles away and heading in our direction and that they should make plans to wake all their guests if it got closer. I was a bit grumpy and told my wife to only wake me if she could see the tornado and then I went back to sleep. Fortunately, the tornado veered off and did not get any closer to the hotel. However, in hindsight, I am glad Lady Quixote stayed up to ensure that all was well. If the tornado had come visiting, I am sure she would have gotten me up in time to move all our kids to the hotel basement.

In general, I ensure my children can explore the world and learn from it while my wife ensure they survive the process. Accelerators and brakes - two different approaches, but both are valuable and complimentary.