Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Questions about the "unseen"

Hi there! I am new here. I have four beautiful, sweet children who all seem (of course) brilliant to me. Lately, I've been starting to worry about my youngest in some ways as much as I am pleased with her abilities. This child is 26 months old. As a veteran mom with older whiz kids, I am certain that this particular child is miles ahead of where most children typically are at her age. Her gross and fine motor, verbal and reasoning skills are very complex and always have been. There is something else though that is difficult to put a finger on or to explain. She seems to be "seeing things" and is sometimes being terribly frightened by them. This started (noticeably) about six months ago when she was 18-20 months old. Her dad was changing her in our bedroom when she looked past his shoulder and pointed to the area above our television. The TV was turned off and she has never seen any type of scary program. She had a look of complete terror on her face and began sobbing uncontrollably, screaming that there was "a monster on top of the TV". She flipped over and literally crawled up my husband like a cat and couldn't be calmed for over an hour. For weeks, every time we brought her into our room, she immediately looked at the TV with fear, then seemingly relieved, would say "Oh, the monster is gone!".

Anyway, this type of thing has continued. At my grandfather's funeral (she was close to him) when she was 23 months old, she (after being told by her dad that he was "sleeping" at the viewing) insisted that he was not sleeping, but had "gone home" (this is something my grandfather would have said). She continued to "talk" to him throughout the day of the viewing and funeral, at one point, pointing out the window into a courtyard saying that he was out there, then saying "I want to come with you, Papa." then "Why, Papa? Why?".

I am not a religious person. In fact, I am a social scientist who staunchly believes in... well... science. I don't have a real opinion about the "other world", however, since my concern is with this world. I neither believe nor disbelieve.

Does any one else have an um "quirky" kid like this and want to share their experience?

I can't say that I have experienced anything quite like this with my kids. There have been several incidents where a child states something and then it happens. For example, one day my DH was late meeting us out somewhere. DS at the time 7 said he was late because he had gotten a speeding ticket. Neither DH or I had ever gotten a speeding ticket before or had a recent conversation about tickets etc. and yet - here comes DH apologizing for being late because of a speeding ticket.
Another example was a different DS who was 5 at the time telling a family friend that someday he would be his son. It was stated as fact - not wishful thinking. In fact, we had only known this person a few months. Fast forward to today and that family friend is now indeed DS's step-dad. Something that I never would have imagined at the time he stated it. It wasn't till two years later that things even changed.
These types of things have happened a handful of times over the years but never seeing the unseen as in people.
Is there anyone else in your extended family who has ever had this type of experience? Maybe they would have some advice/insight.

Breakaway

When my son was 3 years old, his 3 year old neighbor drowned in a backyard pool. My son said he "saw him in the clouds" and that he had "gone home" not to his house, but to God. I asked the Sunday school teacher of the class he had been to a few times if he had ever used the term "gone home" for dying and he said he had not. My son was with me every day 24/7 except for the Sunday school class so I don't know where he heard it.

I think we have had discussions on this topic. I'm like the OP in that I don't fully believe but I'm not completely opposed to the idea. I do remember when DD was around 6 months old we were visiting my grandmother and DD was in her exersaucer in the living room but kept looking towards the kitchen and saying Mama but as a question. I tried to get her attention but she kept going back into this haze and repeating her question about Mama. I never thought anything about it but I guess it freaked my grandmother out since she contacted the priest and he came out and blessed the house. To each their own.

Then when DD was around 16 months we lost my grandmother but the day before she had her massive stroke we had visited and DD was over the top all about her 'Nana'. She didn't want to play with anyone else and just wanted her. Perhaps she sensed something wasn't right? After my grandmother passed away and we had moved into another house we had some interesting occurrences with DD. She insisted that her 'Nana' was there with her. Sometimes she was on the bed and sometimes floating in the corner of the room. She was never frighten because it was her Nana but she was emotional because she clearly missed her. Did she have visits from my grandmother? I, personally, don't believe in it but I do believe that if it is possible my grandmother would be there in a heart beat since DD was her pride and joy.

Both my kids 'saw" things. The funny thing is that the first thing both of them "saw" was a black cat. For my oldest who is now 12 I don't remember to much. She did have a slew of imagninary friends and I think it is just the start of that. My youngest 22months has been having fun play time with a black cat. We were in the store last month and the cat was jumping from within one glass cabinet to another and she was chasing it and smiling and having a great time. They have always been non-scary stuff. My oldest would have huge fights with the imaginary friends or the friends would be fighting and she would have to intercede. Those were difficult days. It was better when they were getting along. I think both of them knew that they were not really there although that can be hard to decipher.

When our son was about 15 months he told my wife she'd need to open the door for his grandmother. Five minutes later his grandmother rang the doorbell. She'd walked to our place.

Not that extraordinary if you explain it in terms of highly acute hearing ability (which he certainly has). I only mention it as a possible source of explanation; the ability to make predictions/experience things beyond our own remit due to extra-sensitive abilities of sight or hearing etc coupled with an extraordinary capacity to form logical conclusions based on that information.

Just yesterday DD was telling me that there was a baby crying and was pointing outside when I asked where the baby was. About 5 minutes later sure enough one of our neighbor's kids was crying in the hallway.

For me I see no problem believing in things we can't understand like this and science. I'm a scientist and trust me there is so much we just don't understand. I don't have a good explanation for it but do I think it's possible? Sure! Even in my own life I've had very vivid dreams that came true (one I had when I was 9 that my mom would have more kids and she did end up getting remarried when I was in college and my step-siblings fit the exact description of the kids in my dream same number of them and gender and everything). Also when I was pregnant with DD I had a dream of what she was look like and her gender and both turned out to be 100% accurate.

I'm a scientist as well, and I've also experienced some of these instances. I've had vivid dreams that come true (unfortunately, mostly about tragedies), most of which have unnerved me as soon as I've awaken. One of them that I remember was when I was quite young (about 2 years). All of them have been dreams, but I was often disoriented after waking up from nightmares as a child. Perhaps she is remembering vivid dreams of these things...