Mark. Here's my .02 I carry a 27 daily. The first thing you want to do with and firearm is go handle it, and see how it fits in your hand. See if you can get to a range that rents and fire a few different guns. For daily use and personal protection I'd vote for either the glock, or a XD.
With your youngster you gotta think about saftey, the glock doesn't have one. I have a 5yr old and a 3 yearold. I don't carry a round chambered, but drill weekly drawing and chambering. The XD has 3 safteys. The thing that swings me to the glock is the total reliablity factor, my wifes G19 went through 3k+ rounds before being cleaned and never ever hic-uped. They have been tested to the extreme and come out fine. There's a lot of bs on the web about the glock kaboom, and its always with some ones sketchy reloads...if you shoot reloads, shoot your own. The glock, while it has improved doesn't totally support the case chambered and causes a slight buldge. I do reload several calibers, but will not reload for my glocks.
All that said, find one that fits your hand and is natural to shoot. I find that any thing I carry is some what of a trade of, size..comfort..caliber..etc. My 27 isn't the ideal weapon, but it fits well enough and I'm accurite enough with it to do the job.
Remeber you use your handgun to fight to your long gun.
Pm me if you have any specific questions, I'm no pro but I've weeded through some mistakes.
