please accept my sympathy to you and your family. i think it doesn't matter when you have lot someone that feeling never goes away. in afew weeks i will have been a widow for 4 years. everyday i think of my husband. i remember what we had for supper the night before (roast and veggies) and i haven't made or eaten it since. i still wear my 3 diamond ring he gave me for our 25th anniv. still proudly with my wedding band on my left hand. i also rec'd a diamond tennis bracelet for my 50th bd (all ths jewellery within 2 months of his passing) along with a puppy gracie joy devine (i swore we would never have another pet) i live in northern ontario so i know about cold and snow today it was minus 43! i walk 21/2 miles one way everyday to visit him at the cemetery. i hate him for leaving me. my husband was just loved by everyone, he had that kind of personality. our son hAS taken over some of his dads traits like volunteering etc. and i don't think our daughter will ever get over losing her date, she was home when the firetrucks and ambulance came to the house, but she has learned to be a nicer person. life is so funny those mean people we all know seem to live forever and ever. it took me about a year to mention Al's name but now i make sure that the kids (well 22 and 27) hear atleast one story about their dad. again i'm sorry for your loss

I'm so sorry for the loss of your son. Your poem is so poignant. Take care.

You're participating in his assaults by NOT reporting him. How will you feel if next week he abuses that little baby and it dies? Will you feel badly that you could have done the right thing and reported it, but didn't? or will you just be glad it wasn't you he killed? I'm sorry--really I am--to be so blunt, but you're describing a very serious situation. Your son SHOULD be in jail. He won't learn to grow up and be responsible until those around him insist that he face the appropriate consequences for his actions. At the very least, Monday morning, call your lawyer, sit down with him/her, tell them everything. Find out what your responsibilities are (could you be charged with a crime if you DON'T report the crimes you know he's committed?) and what your options for protecting yourself are. Get the right answers from a professional in your jurisdiction. And while you're at it, please also research shelters in your area. Keep that info on you, just in case you or the baby's mother need it. I do wish you the best, but I also hope you realize what you have to do and do it.

On the one hand, this could indicate your son is extremely bright. On the other hand, it could indicate his brain is developing in 'non-standard' directions and that an evaluation would be a good idea. Is your son advanced in other areas? Does he ask probing questions about how things work? Is he an avid 'watcher'? Are other family members unusually intelligent, supporting a genetic predisposition to high intelligence? Does he assemble jigsaw puzzles designed for older children easily? What about other building toys like Legos? 'Yes' answers here would support a high-intelligence theory. The words 'STOP' and 'PAUSE' could easily have been copied from a TV remote control. (Is the RC in all caps? and your son's writing also all caps?) Still, an impressive achievement for a 2-year old, but not the same feat as spelling 'cat' or 'tomato', or even mixing upper and lower case letters. Copying words can be a visual pattern-recognition thing; spelling them is a whole sound-symbol coding exercise -- so very, very different. (My older son started writing letters at age 2, but in his case, it was clearly a visual pattern thing -- simply copying shapes that he knew were somehow important.) How does your son play with other children? Is he indifferent to, upset by, confused by, or annoyed by other kids? Does he line things up often, and melt down when his lines are disturbed? Is he anxious or upset by changes in routine? Does he have just a few favorite toys, and play with them the same way over and over? Does he repeat words and phrases he's heard on TV? And if he does 'TV talk,' does it sound different from his regular speech? (Inflection, vocabulary, not appropriate to context) Does he use your hand as a 'tool' to get things instead of pointing? How are his language and speech development coming along? Does he mix up pronouns like 'it' 'me' and 'you', or have trouble with 'Wh' questions? Does he seem over- or under-sensitive to certain sounds, smells, tastes, textures, or sensations? Does he have a strong preference for only a few foods (macaroni and cheese, milk, chicken nuggets) and refuse to eat anything else? How are his sleeping patterns? Problems in these areas suggest you may want to have him evaluated. Very bright children with issues on the autism spectrum (Hyperlexia, Asperger's Syndrome, PDD, High Functioning Autism) could show the types of behaviors you described for your son, but would also tend to have many of the problems described in the paragraph above. If he's only got 1 or 2 issues from the second set of questions and they're not too severe, then you probably don't have anything to worry about. Just keep an eye on him, and enjoy your obviously bright little boy. Here is a link that might be useful: Hyperlexia