Pesky; just looked Kyron up; he's a few years older then this little guy- looks like Kyron lost his baby teeth. What a horrible story. Dlm- I will never understand why people do what his mom did. It breaks my heart that he's probably with someone & he has no clue what's going on. The sneakers threw me over the edge too. How many little boys do you know that wore similar sneakers? The news conference video is pretty good except you can't hear the questions reporters asked. It sounds like they are going to try to match his DNA with people already on other sites to try to trace family DNA but they don't think it will be ok'd in a court. I hope that one day every newborn will have a chip implanted in them so that things like this will not be so hard.

Sweeby, I tend to agree with you. I truely believe my SS is a sociopath. I have researched it extensively and he is dead on. Even to the point that we got puppies for each of the kids last year and he would feed and water his, walk it when the others walked theirs but he never loved on it like the others did. Never smiled at it when it was happy to see him. He was detached. Honestly, that was when I first started to notice he was a little different. He can turn it on, when he knows others are watching, or even mimic others "normal" behavior, he is just different. His puppy didn't grow and learn like the others because he didn't take time with her. When he went to his mothers and said he wasn't coming back, I was at least relieved that I could find the puppy someone to love her. To this day he has never even asked where she is! Was my husband a great father? No. He thought he was, he tried so hard. He stayed in a loveless marriage for 20 years convinced (by his wife and her family) that if he left he would never see his sons again. That is a ridiclous farce! But my husband, while the kindest soul I have ever know, isn't the most intellectual man. He was on his own at age 15 and all he wanted was a family. He endured SO MUCH to keep his family together and while he THOUGHT he was doing the right thing, it was in the end, the absolute worst thing he could have done. Children who grow up in a battle zone, watching their mother belittle their father over and over, watching their mother lose her temper and hit herself in the head, having one affair after another, that is bound to produce some twisted individuals. My husband tried to keep them busy, Boy Scouts, football, basketball, bowling leagues, track...he was at every practice, every game, helped coach..anything he could to keep them busy and focused on something positive. Yes, he feels gulity. I don't bring it up anymore, he talks when he needs to talk and I listen. Last night for the first time, he said, "I should have taken my boys and left when they were little. They would be different now." I know that is true and I know that is why he puts up with so much, he is largely to blame. No, he wasn't a mean father, but he was an ignorant one, either way, his boys are damaged. I feel bad for my SSs and I am very maternal by nature, so I have tried so hard to take care of them. I wonder if maybe there isn't some jealousy there by the 18 year old because he didn't grow up with that kind of mother. His mother is SO selfish! I have never seen anything like it! Well, my SSs....I have loved on him, he and I had one on one "date nights" and days of shopping and lunches like I do with the others, talked about everything under the sun. I just think it is too late... When his behavior affects my children I have to say no more. Some have asked about my 20 year old SS that I have only met twice. Right in the middle of the split between his parents, he "came out". He was 17. He really , really needed understanding and nurturing. He didn't get it. His mother was vested in her new relationship and his father was licking his own wounds. Both adults were selfish and not there for their son in a very, very crucial time in his life. He is still angry and hurt. While my husband now sees his mistake and wants to be there for his son, he is now going to have to wait until his son is ready to forgive him. Which is why my husband calls him very Sunday and leaves him a message, without fail. He tried to live with his mother and her boyfriend and that didn't work out because the boyfriend was calling him a *ag every day! I wish he would give us a chance but he just isn't ready... I saw on FB recently that he was saying he needed money for groceries. I told my husband (who doesn't realy do the FB thing)and he sent him money for groceries. It's a start... Need to add, the SSs do NOT get along! It's just a big mess! : ( I have to leave it all to my husband. He created this situation, regardless of his intentions, it is time for him to step up and take care of his own. I am just going to take care of mine and see in time what develops.

I saw it on the news last night (egads...) and the boy's mother was telling that her son had saved his own money to buy the football, yada, yada, yada. Well if it was so special to him, you'd think he would be sure and keep it safe on his own property, or at a park. Per the article An 89-year-old woman arrested for not giving neighborhood children their football back after it landed repeatedly in her yard said today she'll return the ball. But not right away. "That's my only way of getting through to these children," Edna Jester said. "I'll give it back to them later, but not right now Officers were called about 6:30 p.m. Thursday to her home in the 4900 block of Myrtle Avenue by one of the childrenÂs fathers, Blue Ash Police Capt. James Schaffer said. The football apparently was thrown into JesterÂs yard, and it wasnÂt the first time, he said. The issue has been an ongoing dispute in the neighborhood, he said. Tanis son is in junior high school. Tanis said his son and some of his cousins and friends were playing football in the street Thursday when the ball landed in JesterÂs yard, where she was gardening. He said Jester picked up the football, refused to give it back and told him to call the police. Is it even legal to play football in the street? I'm left wondering if this wasn't a very common occurrence, and if the boys maybe broke or trampled flowers with their ball or when retrieving it. I too see a bad future for the boys who have no respect for others property. Here is a link that might be useful: The complete story (clickable)

Only two nights? You are going to have to make some hard choices from all the good ones mentioned here. I'd do Hancock observatory -- right on Michigan Avenue. Do Art Institute -- also close. Things in Museum Park (Science & Industry, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History) will take more time than you have -- maybe Pick One. How much time do you have for Oak Park? (It's not a gorgeous drive, and there is ton of Wright; pick and choose.) When you leave, drive along Lake Shore Drive and Sheridan Road to Evanston and the north shore before cutting west to the toll road up to Wisconsin. (A prettier exit than your entrance through dreary Gary and the near south side.) Chicago's glory is its setting with open parkland near the lake, and the lake itself. I wish you great weather for the whole trip!