I had an inch of red wine in front of me as I noshed on a cracker with brie and honey.

It was a rare moment with my wife while out with friends for an evening of relaxation.

Then the phone rang.

The babysitter. A look on my wifeB次元官网网址檚 face that I wonB次元官网网址檛 soon forget. And then the outright panic: B次元官网网址淲e have to go! EverettB次元官网网址檚 been hit by a car!B次元官网网址�

Our five-year-old son.

We were told he was likely OK. Still, these were the few words said before we literally ran to the car, and before I sped the very short distance to home.

A calm hovered over me at that moment as B次元官网网址� interestingly in hindsight B次元官网网址� I farmed out my panic to my wife and her unchanging expression, and tried to harvest a brief sense of calm.

Was he OK? Broken bones? Head injury?

Just drive.

As we arrived at the scene, directed by our eight-year-old daughter, there he was, being comforted by a doctor neighbour and aside from some scratches and a hurt ankle he was, in a word, OK.

The driverB次元官网网址檚 car with a large dent and red-paint scratches, his red bike with bent handlebars, and his expensive helmet cracked.

But his head? Fine. He was OK.

A police officer arrived followed by an ambulance, both of whom were comforting for my little guy.

And for parents who have suffered real tragedy with their children, the personal anecdote told so far here may seem banal, but those of us with kids know that sometimes parenting is about close calls. And we are left with what-ifs.

My wife and I started as helicopter parents, moving slowly if reluctantly at times towards the free range. But of course those helicopter/free range generalizations oversimplify parenting. We all try to balance between the two extremes.

This week, May 28 to June 3, is Bike to Work Week, a time to try to consider cycle commuting, but also cycling in general. IB次元官网网址檝e always worn a bike helmet and made sure my kids did too, but part of me always thought: in a really minor incident are they necessary? And in a really severe crash, the helmet wonB次元官网网址檛 help.

But after seeing my little guy crack the back of his head on the ground, emerging uninjured because of his helmet, it occurs to me there probably are a great many incidents like this where the helmet does help.

Yet so many still donB次元官网网址檛 wear helmets, I see them all the time, kids even commuting to school. Often happy families riding with kids wearing helmets, but parents not.

Little is more boring than continuous nagging about safety, but seriously people, helmets. Wear them.

Part of the issue of parenting is that we can never know when weB次元官网网址檒l get that call or see an accident first hand.

WeB次元官网网址檝e owned a trampoline for years, a near death trap if you talk to some people. And if you ponder all the ways your children can be harmed, youB次元官网网址檒l be a nervous wreck.

So itB次元官网网址檚 not always about helmets, itB次元官网网址檚 about common sense and staying safe.

Helicopter parenting doesnB次元官网网址檛 work, but you never know when youB次元官网网址檒l get the call.

I think the best we can do as parents is teach safety, make sure our kids understand why things like helmets are important and then, well, cross our fingers.

B次元官网网址� Paul Henderson is a reporter at the Chilliwack Progress