Paranormal Parents

6th

Ok so a fair few posters on this forum have kids, me included, and i was wondering how people handle the whole ghosts and "monsters" subject. I know its not uncommon for kids to have experiences but most parents ignore it or think they are making it up.

My daughter mentions the "monsters" very often when i am putting her to bed but she loves the "monsters inc" film and says they are funny. I also tell her "ghosties" are nice and funny. She's a big Scooby Doo fan

kshiel

Well I have two boys, very young. My oldest loves scooby doo as well. When it comes to ghost, spirits though I think he is too young to get to grips with any real explanation. Scooby Doo for the moment is the nearest i would like him to get to the paranormal at his age.

I remember when I was very young I use to get these nightmares. One night my mother brought me down the stairs to give me a drink and calm me down a little. While we were in the kitchen one of the toys (the ones that make the animal sounds when you press the button) started to go off by itself, you could see the buttons going down when pressed. I started to shout to get her to turn it off. She turned to me and said it was ok that everything would be ok. She had no explanation for this at the time and I remember feeling so scared. I would not want my children to feel this frightened by anyone or anything.

6th

My own daughter in only 2 this month, i wouldnt go explaining any of it to her but for me i couldnt just ignore anything if she mentions it. I'd keep it casual and lighthearted coz i know i would have liked to be able to tell my family about the things ai experienced while growing up.

kshiel

If he were to ask me about something I would not ignore it I would keep it as light as possible to the point I feel I would almost lie to protect him from being scared. That is wrong in alot of ways but when it comes to certain topics of conversation with a 4 year old it can be tricky with the questions they can bring up and I have noticed that you can be very surprized what they keep in their little minds. Maybe its just the mother in me. I just could not bear to see him afraid. When he is older and a bit more aware of the world and he asks a question of this nature well then I an explanation of some sort would be in order. For now his own imagination is wild enough.

6th

i'm kinda just getting at not dismissing it and leaving it at a level where they feel they can come to you as they get older. Dismissing things as "not real" wouldnt be something i could do.

In saying that i 100% agree that i would not explain anything in away toi make it scarely like "oh thats just dead uncle jonny, dead people come back to see us when wea re in bed at night".

LeinsterPar

ive two teenage sons. the eldest has no interest in the paranormal as such though he did outline an experience he had at my mothers house which was very similar to one I had as a kid and he wasnt too freaked out about the idea of a ghost.

our youngest has had some experiences in our house and is quite aware of what my thoughts and theories are. we have discussed 'ghosts' and what they could be (it was unavoidable in the circumstances) but its not a topic of conversation I bring up too much as though he is in his very early teens, he prefers to sleep with a light on in the hallway. that only started since we moved in to the house we have now and for reasons outlined in a thread somewhere else.

so to sum up - one kid I dont need to discuss the paranormal with as the ocassion never arises, the other I sometimes will jokingly refer to our 'house ghost' with but generally i dont bring the subject up too much, yet he has a healthy outlook on what the paranormal is.

kshiel

I guess we are getting at the same point. I like to say if anything is angels watch over us and take care of us. Its mad though when you think about it most people have no worries about explaining the bad man / strangers which will also frighten them yet paranormal still seems a bit odd to explain even to those of us who believe.:rolleyes:

kshiel

I guess we are getting at the same point. I like to say if anything is angels watch over us and take care of us. Its mad though when you think about it most people have no worries about explaining the bad man / strangers which will also frighten them yet paranormal still seems a bit odd to explain even to those of us who believe.:rolleyes:

ok may go now I think I just burned the kids dinners. Bad Bad Mammy.:D

Oryx

My kids are too young to be getting into discussions of ghosts and the like, if my son (3) is ever scared, I let him sleep with the light on, or keep him company, whatever. I listen to what he says is scaring him, and try not give much of an opinion other than 'well mammys not scared!' because hes too young. Hasnt been a big issue up to now other than the odd monster in the bathroom.

6th

I'm thinking this thread might make it look like i discuss the paranormal with my 2 year old, or that i think its a good idea - i dont.

I was just wondering how people handle the whole "mammy/daddy the man in my room smiled at me".

LeinsterPar

"hang on son til get me EMF reader and tape recorder ..."

that'd be my reaction

Oryx

Both my kids have waved at people who are not there, but they couldnt talk at the time, so I cant ask who it is, but thats what Id do, just keep it matter of fact.

stormkeeper

While I'm not a parent myself yet (thankfully!), I'd love to get my mum posting in here at some point, as I think she'd have something to contribute. Only problem is that I kind of live about 400 miles away from her and won't be in a position to get her to look at this thread for another 2 weeks.

Nevyn

Again it is not supernatural to me or is it to my children.

6th

Thaedydal wrote:

Again it is not supernatural to me or is it to my children.

See thats how it should be IMO.

Nevyn

6th this may be better in the spiritualiy forum as spirituality and childrens awareness.

6th

Thaedydal wrote:

6th this may be better in the spiritualiy forum as spirituality and childrens awareness.

Well i'm taking it from a "ghost" point of view and how people how are "believer" handle the possible situations that can arise.

I can understand where you are coming from as I've seen threads in both Spirituality and Paganism Forums discussing the raising of children in peoples belief systems.

happy cookie

I think it's a very good question and I'm interested in the answers as well. My daughter (2 next month) used to wave at "nothing" (that I could see) when she was smaller too, but she's got a few words now and I caught her once waving at the ceiling and saying daddy... now, I never met my father in law but have been told that my husband is very like him...

She also has conversations with "whoever" when she goes to bed and is in stitches sometimes.

So for me the question is if a child is convinced they're seeing someone but you can't see them yourself...what do you say? do you mention the fact that you can't see anything or do you acknowledge the fact that they might be actually seeing somebody?.. one doesn't want to traumatise them either implying that they're not telling the thruth when they might in fact be.

Pink Bunny

I have mixed feelings on the subject.

On one hand a child's reality is different from an adults. ( I clearly remember thinking my baby dolls had feelings and was careful my teddy bears weren't covered so as not to suffocate them at night etc..) So to treat everything as a supernatural encounter isn't wise. Children are blessed with an amazing imagination and sometimes when they see things it's just their imagination.

On the other hand I think children are more in touch with the spirit world than most adults because of their innocence and also because they haven't been taught that “ghosts don't exist” yet. Also I guess it depends a lot on whether it's a scary experience or a comforting one. I think that if they see Granny smiling at them then it's a great opportunity to explain death and the continuance of the soul-depending on the age. But if it's a bad experience than I think the child needs to be given something that will empower them like a mantra, a prayer or something along those lines. I think that our ancestors were on to something when they used folk wisdom to ward off evil spirits etc... Sometimes it's not the power of the object used but the belief behind it that has the real power and there is no reason we can't validate a child's fears and give them a means to deal with things on their own terms without scary them. Those ghosts/spirits that target children are cowardly and are best dealt with not as a natural occurrence but as a threat that needs to be dealt with.

And I have come to the conclusion that if a child's parents, grandparents on back sought out the spirit world that once the invitation has gone out then it's hard to shut the door for the next generation whether or not the next generation welcomes it or not! But I guess that's a topic for another day.

kshiel

I remember when I was growing up my father used to entrawl us with stories of the banshee and the headless horse man and so on. These I use to love. He never scared us to the point of no return but he made it clear all the same he believed in the banshee. I even remember telling ghost stories to the children I used to babysit so they wouldn't get out of bed.

Now that I have my own kids its a little bit different. The odd scary story here and there at the approiate times is great and it gets those imaginations flowing. My moto is Let Kids be Kids it time enough to grow up.

If the situtation arose of something that could not be explained away with awh its ok pet it was just a dream, its all gone now, then It would depend I suppose on the situtation what action could be taken.

magnumlady

My son used to talk to the man who lived in our coattage (he died years before we moved here!)
He told us all about him and what they were talking about, it was kind of weird!!
My daughter used to sit up in bed and talk a different language, really fast and fluently, not sure if thats paranormal or not.
My son is now 13 and he'll still tell us if someone is around and who they are. He's quite comfortable with it, I suppose because its not new to him. We don't make a big deal of it.

littlebug

This is an interesting thread.
My 4 year old is a sensitive little girl and is scared of everything... and I mean EVERYTHING! Animals, loud noises (and some not so loud noises), fire, the dark, tractors, spiders, flies, fluff balls.... the list goes on and on. She won't even go on a swing! She just about watches scooby doo but cover her eyes if its scary or comes running to me to turn it off if it gets really scary! I don't think she's seen anything paranormal because I'm sure we'd have heard all about it if she had!

In the last few months we've had the "where is my other granny" conversation which has of course led to questions about death.
To be honest we're kind of winging it at the minute but she seems to accept the answers we give her. I haven't mentioned spirits or ghosts or anyone watching over her because she is such a scaredy I don't want to add to the list! Her 21 month old brother on the other hand.....one look at the monsters and ghosties and they will never ever dare cross his path again! He ain't scared o' nothin'!