My 7yo daughter is obsessed with fairies, building them houses, and helping them collect nuts and berries. She does this at home and at school during recess. She has established a fairy club at school to help her. Its very charming. I can see her imagination churning. She is such a tactile learner, that its nice to see her have the oportunity to experience the world that way.
I do think she believes the fairies are real. She checks up on their villages daily. Maybe I should ask her what they look like? I haven't wanted to ask too much - I think it might discourage her.
There have been a few times I have been "aware" of spirits. Once I thought on of my neighbors was in our kitchen - we had bought the house from him. Later, I learned he had died the day before. I was post-partum and sleep deprived so who knows?
The there was a ghost in our old apartment that would switch the laundry around in the washer and dryer. I thought I was crazy until the landlord who lived upstairs commented that her laundry also seemed to get switched around. The house was 200 yo. We had separate laundry facilities so its not like we were doing it to each other.
I wonder about gifted kids and religion. It seems like 7ish is a time when there is a lot of who believes in god polling on the playground and kids telling each other that they are going to go to hell if they don't go to the church they do. My daughter seems to roll with this better than I do - we are Unitarian. The Jesus and hell stuff just doesn't fit with our world view. I am mulling over how to talk to dd about what we believe w/o saying negative stuff about what some of her schoolmates believe. I think what dd believes is really heartfelt and understood at more mature level than some of her non-gifted schoolmates who are just repeating dogma. That may sound harsh, but I am very protective of her. And I'm waiting until I calm down before talking to dd about this.
