With parks closed, Lisle teen constructs playset for younger brother's birthday

With no parks or playgrounds open, Dominic Kast of Lisle took matters into his own hands. Concerned for his younger siblings, he started searching the web for do-it-yourself swing sets.

Major stores like Home Depot and Menards were out of stock and back ordered.

With his younger brother's birthday fast approaching, the likelihood of getting something purchased, let alone installed, was highly unlikely.

We stopped at a place on routes 59 and 56 that had wooden swing sets on display and, for a small fortune, one could have a set fully installed by September. The lady working the desk called it the "year of the swing sets."

After leaving what we thought was our last resort, we decided to hit up Walmart. We went despite the website saying it was "out of stock." And it was a good thing, because under a rack in the garden section we found one in a beat-up box that looked like it might have been opened and returned. Nonetheless, my son Dominic rushed home and started working.

There was only a few hours left until dark when he got started, and trying to work in the dark was not happening. The next morning I woke up to the sound of Dominic hard at work.

Dominic's younger brother Cruz was turning 5 that day, which put the project in the red. He worked all day, but completion had fleeted away with the evening sun.

The next morning was different since there was no urgency to get it done. This allowed for a much less stressful work day. Some time around 6 p.m. it was finally done and the kids got to test out the work. Cruz asked, "Is that my park?" Dom said, "Yes! I built it for you."

I was extremely proud of my son, and I thought anyone who has built one of these things knows how much fun they can be.