Young Children Seeing "People"

Yeah Yeah Yeah

I just recalled that when my daughter was about 4 years old, she said on several occasions "who's that man at the top of the stairs?". (We have since moved).

She has not mentioned any such occurences since that time, and has shown no further indication to suggest that she is, or was fantasy prone. The opposite would be the case, she tells it like it is. : ) I haven't asked her about it since, and i dont think doing so would be a good idea.

I'm sure there is a part of child development at that age can bring about imaginary friends and so on...opinions appreciated.

I was also with the same daughter several years later when we witnesed a golden ball of light, about the size of a football, in the nearby churchyard. It moved in a slow, straight, slightly dipping line for about 15 metres, about 3 metres off the ground. It disappeared when it reached the perimetre of the churchyard, perhaps coinciding with the end of the field of the Church security night lights(?) There had been renovations taking place at the time at the Church, where 2 original doors had been bricked up.

Any opinions?

Thanks

lisatiffany

Children are very susceptible to not only seeing but making contact with spirits. i without a shadow of a doubt think at that age and time in our lives we can also to an extent do the same but as we group up the world around us and our parents groom the ability out of us to the point where such abilities go dormant for many years. eventually in a lot of cases you find that the ability resurfaces exactly when you least expect it and at that point we are all so "grown up" and brainwashed not to believe it that when it does happen we are taught to question our own sanity or put in extra time at mass. not all families and households are that way but sadly most are and if a child is exceptionally gifted physically when it does reappear down the line there is so much confusion and even fear that it changes the persons life completely.

Would they be more adjusted had they been taught to control that gift and that it was a positive thing? i think so, the more we understand something the less we are afraid of it. growing up my family was not overly religious and my mum never told me to avoid the occult or the paranormal, i fed my obsession about all things spooky since about the age of 10yrs old and it just grew from there. our house was haunted and both myself and my older sister saw a lot of things from shadows and manifestations to balls of light. she in general wouldn't talk about it and after she did the ouija board she really stopped talking about it, any time she did talk about it the activity would heighten and even now she never goes to sleep with the light off. mums reaction was "you should not have done the ouija board and were warned countless times", there was no strong words about spirits not being real it was more they are real and deserve respect.

There are a lot of theories as to why children see spirits, skeptics will say they are manufacturing imaginary friends, while believers will say they are spirits. if you look at poltergeist cases for example children are almost always involved, either spirits are naturally attracted to them or its a form of thermodynamics where the child's energy is affecting the outside world around them. we as human beings still don't know the full potential of the human mind or consciousness, there is even a possibility that children have the ability to manifest spirits and energies we just don't know. i personally think its as simple as we are all born with psychic and clairvoyant skills, we start off with our "invisible friends" but we are soon introduced to other children and people, as we shy away from what others don't see and as our parents tell us its not real the more we close off the ability.

Like i mentioned in many cases it reopens years later and can cause a lot of distress where many people will never utter a word of it to anyone. you'll find that many mediums or clairvoyants who do actively use their gifts grew up with at least one figure in their family who was also gifted and explained the ins and outs of it all. you can argue that if someone ..often an older grandmother tells the child they are seeing spirits then its possible that the child we start to see them, even if they were figments of the imagination. i like to cover all sides of an argument but have seen an experienced enough to distinguish my beliefs.

The fact you both saw the ball of light shows that not all of it can be put down to a child's imagination. interestingly enough you mentioned a man on the top of the stairs, that's very common when talking about spirits. i'd love to know why its the top of a stairs or landing because growing up in my house it was the exact same thing, i hated getting up in the middle of the night to pass through there and the manifestation of a lady was seen there over and over again, she would open doors ..look in then a minute or so later vanish. there was activity in other rooms but at least 80% of it was the top of the stairs. have you ever asked her what the man looked like? it probably was someone who was attached to the house, if she saw him elsewhere i'd be more inclined to say it was a passed family member or guardian angel.

Sylvia browne wrote quite a good book about psychic ability in children and if you have read any of her stuff before you will see that for years she refused to believe what she saw and experienced, most mediums just believe and accept without questioning it but she was severely skeptic about it all until she finally just came to accept adapt and use her abilities. i don't have children and i'd never tell a parent how to raise a child but maybe be a little more observant where possible and listen out for hints that it might be more than a passing phase. the good thing is we live in an age now where if someone is gifted in that way they won't be condemned to an insane asylum, there is enough media coverage and literary material out there that shows they really aren't alone in what they are experiencing and it must count for something especially when it comes to being able to discuss it rather than hide it out of fear or shame. do keep us updated though, and the book i mentioned is linked here.

Melodi

It sounds like your daughter may have actually "seen" something, many small children do and then if the situation changes (you moved) they don't anymore.

The difference between a child seeing "something" that maybe "paranormal" (aka ghost, spirit guide, departed relative checking etc) and an imaginary friend is not always obvious but there is a clue here.

Usually with an imaginary friend, there is a history of "sightings" there is name for the friend, you hear all about the friend, the friend does things with them, tells them things like, "Mary says she doesn't like green peas" or other things that are obviously really part of the child's own opinion.

There are cases where you might suspect the imaginary friend is not so imaginary but that's a different topic.

In general, a few sightings of something/someone mostly unknown in the same place, is more likely a "seeing," especially when not connected with a name or just something like "that old man was there again Mommy" or "I saw the little girl with her feet in the floor."

Thankfully (in my opinion) a lot of these "seeings" are probably psychic "photographs" of people or things that may have been in or lived in the house/building before. If they don't interact with the child in anyway or repeat the same motion over and over, that's probably all they are.

Best way to handle it is not to make a fuss, just act the same way you would if they said anything else to you; if the child wants to talk you can say "oh, what are the wearing?" or "is that someone you know?" and if they say "Poo Bear" you know its probably a fantasy. If they say "looks like Daddy only older and he's smiling" well you might have a visit from Great-Grandpa checking in.

The main thing is, unless the child is scared or upset; don't make a big deal about it either way.

I was once in a shopping mall in the US during the Yule Season next to a giant outdoor tree; when a tiny tot pointed upward and said,

"look Mommy, there's an angel on top of that tree!"

We all looked up and there was no obviously angel, just a star or something but her Mom said,

"Oh that's wonderful honey, is she pretty?"

And the little girl said,

"Yes!"

And that was it, on to another topic; best way in the world to handle it and I'm sure the angel (if she was there) was smiling too, I know I was.

Most children stop "seeing" things after the age of six or so, after that they don't just accept things at face value and start questioning their own perceptions. But little children, they do confuse fantasy and reality a lot, but that doesn't mean everything is a fantasy either.

But if you just accept it, and let the child lead you, the child is usually fine and if they have a "gift" it will develop slowly and naturally as it should. And if it "goes away" after awhile, that's OK too.

Just my thoughts,
Melodi in the Midlands

Ruth KPS

Children are far more open to spirit than adults are. When I was 7 I first began seeing spirit. I now have a little girl of my own who is able to see spirit.

One of the most recent encounters she has had over the last year or so is an encounter with a son I lost 4 years ago.

She has never been told about him, but she came to me last year and asked how many kids I have. I replied 'one, you' and she stated 'No mammy you have 2, a girl and a boy', on another occasion she told me a joke. I then asked her where she heard it and she stated 'Darragh told me', Darragh is the name of the son I lost and she has no contact in this life with any boys called Darragh.

It's something I feel should be fully encouraged.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

Thanks Lisa, Melodi and Ruth.

Its refreshing to get positive possible explanations, rather than the "Tch, were you drunk? and "Nonsense, your child is just playing friends etc...":D

When she was newly born, a retired lady seen her when she was a few days old and she said "You've been here before havent you"...

I didnt chat to her about that at the time. But I think she was probably referring to reincarnation.

But there was something very knowledgeable and adult about her wee baby eyes from when she was first born. The was that she looked at you was very contented, smiling, fixed and confident.

I never asked her too much at the time about the "man on the stairs", as I guess now i didnt know how to best handle it. I'll wait perhaps until an opportune moment arrives, if it ever does. But I know she'll want to know why I'm asking, and perhaps she may not remember (?), 5 years ago?

When we seen the golden ball of light she was very keen to talk about it and drew me a picture the next day, really for me to make sure that "I" was not hallucinating.:D

At the time she said "daddy what is that light?", and all I could say was "I dont know". I could find no worldly explanation for it. The closest I could think was a sort of moth, or large winged insect, caught in the security lights, but the shape was so distinct, and the way it moved/floated was very deliberate and not in the shaky, random wavering way that a large insect might move, amd its shape was more or less a solid gold floating/moving glowing ball.

My head sometimes tells me it was a large insect, but I know in my heart it wasnt.

It was mentioned to me by the only other person apart from yourselves to give positive suggestive comment,that it was a spirit revealing itself to my daughter, and had she not been with me, I would not have seen it.

Thanks for your responses..much appreciated.:D

charlemont

My son's lil' brother has on a few occasions when he was a toddler seen who he describes as the Puppet Man, Now that house actually had a ghost when they lived there and a few funny things happened there, His mum is a believer too.

The landlords Dad died there so we just presume its him, No harm from him, She used to get frightened some nights in her bedroom where she slept with the kids, So one night when I was over I took a mattress in and slept on the floor and nothing strange ever happened in that room again.

screamer

I don't agree with kids being encouraged at all, tbh, the world of spirit is as sinister and even more so than the real world. With no walls or doors to close to keep bad ones away, little innocent kids can be very vunerable.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

@Screamer: I would agree absolutely. Its when things happen and a child seeks and explanation. But I would never encourage children to take an interest in the paranormal, that would be unhinged IMO.

Ruth KPS

I think I may need to clarify the ending of my last post about encouraging it.

I would never encourage my daughter to have anything to do with the paranormal world, what I did mean was that when she comes to me and says 'Mommy I've seen this' or 'Mommy I've heard that' I'm not going to give out to her or tell her it's nonsense. I am going to 'encourage' it as in telling her that what she is telling me is perfectly ok.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

@Ruth, no worries, absolutely agree with you. I think it was pretty clear what you were saying:D

storker

Not an apparition story, but this thread just reminded me of when we took our little girl, who was two or three at the time, to a car boot sale at the church in Deansgrange. Well, we had business next door and noticed it so we decided to take a look.

As soon as we were on the church grounds, she looked in the direction of the church and started crying, saying she didn't want to go in there. At first we just thought she was having a whinge, but then realised that she was genuinely terrified. This from a child who is usually the most intrepid explorer and loves going to events and visiting new places.

I looked carefully, but couldn't see anything that a child might perceive as frightening. There was even a stall selling teddy bears which would normally have pverridden any concerns.

So we gave it a miss. She is nearly eight now, and nothing like that has happened since.

Stork

lisatiffany

@storker - it could have been the stalls themselves, its not rare where someone buys an object or piece of furniture only to find out after they bought it the previous owner may not want to give it up so easy. it happens a lot with old chairs and items of jewelry, perhaps she saw something attached to an item for sale and really didn't like what she saw.

storker

lisatiffany wrote: »

@storker - it could have been the stalls themselves, its not rare where someone buys and object or piece of furniture only to find out after they bought it the previous owner may not want to give it up so easy. it happens a lot with old chairs and items of jewelry, perhaps she saw something attached to an item for sale and really didn't like what she saw.

That's an interesting take on it. Thanks.

Stork

kc66

My Sister used to work in a very old pub. I called in one day with my daughter who was around 3 at the time. There was nobody in the pub except us and I was talking to my Sister in the small pool table area. My daughter went out into the other area where there is a staircase and a locked door at the top, leading into a stock room. She ran into us absolutely petrified saying "The man... the man". I brought her out to the bottom of the stairs and she was hysterical and holding onto me as tight as she could. She pointed up the stairs and said "the man" again. There was definitely nobody else there that day. She was so upset we had to bring her out. My Sister wasnt too happy staying there on her own afterwards.
My better half reckons she has seen a lot of stuff when she was a kid too, nothing in recent years though.

kylith

I'll have to ad a note of dissent here. I used to work in a pool and was inundated with children swearing they'd seen fish, dolphins, and even sharks. They were well able to describe in detail too.

I think that if a child knows their parent has an interest in the paranormal, and you'd be amazed what they hear without you realising, they may have decided to tell a story that they thought would please you.

Either way, I'd definitely recommend avoiding telling the kid that they have special powers to see and speak to the dead.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

kylith wrote: »

Either way, I'd definitely recommend avoiding telling the kid that they have special powers to see and speak to the dead.

I presume thats a general observation Kylith?, I dont think anyone on this thread was suggesting the above.

ratticus

I used to live in Brussels and the flea markets there often had a lot of stuff from the Congo ( I will let you do your own research on how Leopold and the Belgian raped the Cong ) and the negative energy and general weirdness that came off some of those objects had to be felt to be believed. so, yeah, could well be that there was something on the stalls that was not very happy about being there.

calerbass

Very interesting thread, due an occurrence with my sister,s young son, seven years of age last year.

She was in the kitchen of the house, doing wash up etc, and the young lad was in the hallway which leads to the bedrooms in the house. She told me that he was playing in the hallway, when right out of the blue, he said "mammy, their is a man gone walking down the hallway", he did nt seem fazed when saying it she said, but she got the fright of her life because she thought some one from outside was after coming in and walking down the hallway, but it was nt, it was something the boy saw. Their was a little bit of background to this, few weeks previously to this, he, on several occasions would call his mother to the room at night time to say their is someone standing behind the curtain.

MadMardegan

Something similar happened with my little brother when he was around 6.

My mam was in the kitchen one day and he came into her and said to her "mam, your dad used to drive a blue car didn't he? He loved that car. I remember you were very upset when he died"... Something along those lines anyway.

My grandad died in 1984 I think (never net him, he died before I was born as well), and my brother was born in 1996. My mam didn't talk about him all that much but there's no way he could've known that he drove a blue car.

Don't know if there's anything behind it but it's a bit strange none the less.

My 6 year old daughter has mentioned to me about monsters being in her bed and kicking her at night.
I have told her not to be silly.

She has a wild imagination and has seen monsters inc a few times.

Still though, some of those stories are bit *shudders*

Mountainsandh

My daughter called me crying one night shortly after bedtime, there had been a "white" angry lady standing over her bed, not nice at all, and the lady blew on her, and that made her cold (and scared, obviously).
Daughter was around 3/4 at the time (probably closer to 4 since well able to speak), has always been happy to go to bed, loves her sleep, and not of a nervous disposition but yes, very creative and good imagination.
That has always freaked me out though, as I know my daughter, and she has never made up any such stories, never had "imaginary friends" or anything like that. When she's being "creative" she outright tells you that she is going to make something up.
This happened in a newly built extension to an oldish house (1950s).

Oh, and my post is late, but since it's Boards after all, I feel I should mention that I don't have a single drop of alcohol in my body right now .
Just fancied a bit of lurking on here as I very occasionally do.
The story above is the only thing that would bring any hint of freakiness to do with our house ever since we moved in 8 years ago. We bought the house in the first place because there was a good feel about it.

We didn't expand on the daughter's experience and it never came up again.

jaspertheghost

i remember being very young and in a graveyard with my aunt who was putting flowers on the grave of her grandfather....i turned around and saw a man and woman sitting over against a wall,when i turned to my aunt to tell her and she looked they were gone.....when we were home we were looking through some old photos and i recognized a man in one of them,it was my great grandfather and it was also the man i saw in the graveyard...spooked the hell outta me....

starviewadams

My little sister sometimes reported seeing ''the man'' in various rooms of our old house.It used to happen most frequently when my mam would be taking a shower and she'd put my sister into her rocking chair in my room so I could keep an eye on her (I would've been 13/14 at the time) She'd sit there rocking in her chair smiling and laughing at ''the man'' in the corner of my room.

My grandad had died of terminal cancer in the same room years before even I was born,and apparently his bed had been in the same corner of the room that my sister would be laughing and smiling at ''the man'' at.

MrMojoRisin

I know this doesn't relate to children seeing anything, but did anyone see yesterday's story on RTE about a report finding that over 20% of Irish schoolchildren, aged 11-to-13, have experienced auditory hallucinations, i.e. hearing voices?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0412/over-20-of-children-report-hearing-voices.html

In some cases, an underlying psychiatric disorder was diagnosed, while the hallucinations just disappeared over time for most.

While it's common for people to hear voices and be suffering from a genuine mental illness, you'd wonder about other people. I mean, you often hear about mediums, for example, who say they hear voices in the spirit world (known as 'clairaudience') informing them about various things. Many of these same people report experiencing those 'hallucinations' from early childhood. Of course, you get mediums who say they don't hear anything, but that they see or feel things instead.

I don't even know if clairaudience (or any of the rest of the other abilities) are real - I can only speculate - but I still find myself wondering whether any of the children studied in the RCSI report might have experienced that.

When I was a kid, I'd sometimes hear my name being called (but it didn't come from within my head - it was external) when there was no-one else around. And the odd time, I've heard the faint sound of voices speaking softly within intense silence (this is usually before I fall asleep), but I don't feel like I'm going mental. I feel grand. It's like the volume of silence increases - and the voices come to the fore - and, yet, I can still hear things like cars going by outside the house simultaneously. Anyway, I wonder if that's the same sort of thing that those kids reported experiencing?

sunrise91

I remember my aunt once telling me about how when she was young, say 2 or 3, she was sweeping the floor in the kitchen when her dress caught fire. Due to the schock I suppose she lost her speech for a month I think? But when she got it back, she used to talk about monks in her room.
When she was in her 20s she was in a very bad car accident and she swears that she saw those monks again right after it happened.

I always thought it was a bit spooky!

emeraldstar

^ Sweeping the kitchen floor at the age of two?

Yeah Yeah Yeah

emeraldstar wrote: »

^ Sweeping the kitchen floor at the age of two?

I'd say thats not so unusual Emeraldstar.

Thinking back when my youngest was about 3, she loved sweeping the floor, so we bought her one of those mini-dustpan and brushes...she still loves sweeping up.

Links To Megathreads: Sublink: What's Your Experiences: I have just spotted for anyone newish like myself, this looks like an interesting read, goes back years...

sunrise91

emeraldstar wrote: »

^ Sweeping the kitchen floor at the age of two?

Just repeating the story I was told..

desolate sun

My cousin is married to a girl who lost her brother and sister very young (21 and 18 respectively). The girl's family never speak of the deaths.

Anyway my cousin and the girl have children and when their daughter was about 3/4, she would mention an imaginary friend called Pat* (the sister that died was called Patricia) and she would talk about Pat and do things with her.

The child also mentioned seeing a man standing by the TV on several occasions.

The grandmother was always freaked by these occurrences but I always thought they were comforting. I always felt the child's aunt and uncle were visiting her and looking after her.

*names changed

christmas2012

kylith wrote: »

Either way, I'd definitely recommend avoiding telling the kid that they have special powers to see and speak to the dead.

Who knows they could believe it,and make a career out of it no worries about the pension or being chucked in a hospice

ZX7R

The fact that the mother op and child both saw the golden ball of light at the same time,maby it was ball lightning that they saw ,that been a rare thing to see itself.

Karona

My Nana died 2 years ago and after she was buried we brought my 3 and a half year old nephew up to the graveyard to see her grave. When we got there we were standing around talking, when all of a sudden my nephew says What Nana Lilla? We all looked at him and he walked up toward the headstone and fixed one of the flowers. We asked him what happened and he said, Nana Lilla told me to fix the flowers and she told me I was a good chap.

It was weird yet very comforting in a way.

aoife1991

I used to scare the bejesus out of my parents when I was very young. I was convinced there was someone in my bedroom (I vividly remember being so scared they were hiding behind curtains and in my wardrobe).

I was also able to recall details of relatives who died many years before I was born, like knowing my great-grandfather was a very heavy smoker, knowing that he always wore a brown cap and a black jacket, that he used to leave a cigarette on the steps of the church so he could light up immediately after mass. I have no recollection whatsoever of any of these, I just remember being scared of the people I saw in my room when I was about 4/5 yo.

My mother only reminded me of the details of my great-grandfather about 2-3 years ago, to see my reaction and also to see if I remembered anything else. I don't think the people in my room and my relatives are in anyway connected, but I wonder if I saw my relatives that I was able to graphically describe them? Both of my parents always downplayed me being able to see people in my room, putting it down to an over active imagination, I suppose I was a creative child But I absolutely maintained I saw them, they used to scare me so much that I would not sleep in the dark as I believed the light would keep them away. Maybe invest in a night light for your kids

jimmyjimmy123

On 2 occasions ive seen this in action,one was with my neice,in her past address she had to imaginary mates,they were called ellie and desso..she said desso used to come and go at times,but ellie was always there,and that another girl used to be there called sarah,but my neice said she was afraid of her so she didnt join in...and to this day my neice whos now in her teens can remember loads off it,she said she seen sarah just once,she had lovely blond hair and real green eyes...and she said it stopped the day she moved out...

an other time when me son was about 3/4 he was out the side of my mothers house,looking across the side gate at folk goin by,now id know most walking by so wouldnt be suprised if i heard the wee lad talking to someone which was often the case..anyhow one day i heard him saying to someone he loved power rangers,i went around to see who it was an no one there??anyhow this happened a few times...,id hear him in full conversation,but when i went out there be no one there..i asked him who he was talking to,and he said he was chatting to a man who was wearing a suit,and looked like me..as my brother had passed on a few years previous and my son never seen him i thought maybe this could be him,but the odd thing was i never have wore a suit,i hate them,and either would my brother,anyhow he also said that the man said to him that he wouldnt be talking to him anymore and he wasnt coming back..???
(just to make clear,it takes me 5 seconds to walk from house to where son was,so there was defo no human talking to him"???