Do Your Kids "See" Things?

Have you ever taken a hallucinogen? Hallucinogens don't create 'pink elephants' (by and large)... what they do is remove the filters your brain uses. So you don't see the 600 shafts of light coming off of the chandelier... you see a diffuse glow and 'sparkles'. But children (and those on hallucinogens, or certain brain injuries) see 600 shafts of light. When you move your hand, you don't see a "trail" of hands, you see a hand in movement. Children, however, usually see the trail or "tracer".

Our brains prioritize information (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell). We actually have THOUSANDS of bits of information coming in at all times.... but most people are only aware of (to pick a general number) 10. ADHD folks are aware of about 100 (it's the primary reason why we're so distracted). Infants and small children several hundred.

The vast majority of early childhood games teach the brain HOW to filter the information it's being given (I won't go into those right now, though, or I'd go on for ages)... and they're cross cultural. Children play in the same ways all over the globe throughout history. Their brains are figuring out how to function. Distance, edges, movement, etc.

Brain scans of small children clearly show that they're "tripping" as far as sensory input goes. Their brains, as they age slowly (and by leaps and bounds) learn to prioritize the info. It starts off quite young (you can watch a baby's and then a child's 'circle of awareness' grow as they age. In part, that's because they can see more clearly. WE see the wall they're about to run headfirst into just FINE... but to them, it quite literally jumps out of nowhere.

On average children stop "tripping" most of the time by age 5. But you'll still get the "Mom, what's that black thing?"... silence... "You mean the MAILBOX?" (that you've seen 100 times) "Oh yeah. Okay. I see it now." off and on until shortly before puberty. Children will see something familiar and not recognize it. Their brain may or may not suggest something similar (or brains also search for patterns... in the absence of a pattern it will create one... hence looking for shapes in clouds).

Like others have said... I bet she's seeing either the headstones or the shadows in movement from being in the jogger, and her mind is suggesting polarbears. Grey or not, in movement things "lighten" (facet of cones and rods), and they blur to become larger.

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Could the gravestones look like polarbears? I am envisioning those marble rounded headstones that might possibly look like a polar bear from a distance in that it's rounded at the top and that's her frame of reference? It's behind a fence, which makes her think *zoo* and what is white and round behind a fence at the zoo? A polar bear!

Kids have wild imaginations. Pardon the pun. I'd be more inclined to believe she's psychic if she was seeing Aunt Margaret.

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This is so timely!!
At four my daughter swore one night that there was a giant man outside her window, tapping. She has stuck with that story and swears to this day it was real. She's 15 now.
On Tue night my 13 yr old came running downstairs and said there was a blonde woman standing in the game room with her. She made me come back upstairs with her and wait while she got ready for bed-even though her sister was asleep up there already.
On Thur morning the 15 yr old told me that she woke up at 3am and there was a small blonde boy crouching next to her bed crunching something. Neither one of the girls had told the other about what they had seen.
I was just upstairs to wake them up and they are both cuddled in one bed!
I have had flashes before where out of the corner of my eye I swear there are people-nothing definite-that I have never mentioned. From now on I think I will pay more attention.
I think people do come back and visit-I KNOW it happened with my father in law. My husband and I both spoke to him about a week after he passed. He came and stood in our room and we both woke up saying "I had this weird dream-it was so real." My husband added "Dad came and said everything would be ok." Chills ran down my spine as my husband said this as it was exactly what I had seen and I heard. My husband is one that says he NEVER dreams and never remembers his dreams so it was very unusual for him to even mention a dream.
Children supposedly are more open to things. I like the post about how the kids brains are "tripping" and it does make sense. So maybe she sees polar bears. Maybe the headstones behind the fence do remind her of polar bears. Either way, talk to her about it-she's either very receptive or has a great imagination. Both possibilities are wonderful!

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My cousin's daughter saw her Papa when she was about two. My uncle (her Papa) had passed away when she was about 3 months old. One morning, she was standing up in her crib laughing, talking and pointing up. When her mom came in and asked her what she was doing, she said she was talking to Papa Dave. She had seen pictures of him, but not often. I truly believe he was visiting her that night.

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Could she be trying to say something that sounds like polar bears?

That being said, I totally believe :)

When my kid was about 2 he started talking about a 'sister' (at the time, he didn't even know anyone with a sister. All his buddies were still only kids). I asked him who's sister he was talking about? 'Gran's' (my aunt) he said. My aunt died in 1998. So I asked if she had come to visit and he said she had. We had a nice little chat (with a 2 yr old) about his visit with her. I told him to tell her we miss her and love her :)

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Yes my almost 5yr old daughter sees angels at church. My oldest he is now 11yrs. Sometimes when we spend a lot of time outside in our yard he feels the presence of an old farmer that used to live on our property. We live in a development About 30 years ago it was a cow farm. He said the man has glasses and is nice.

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All 4 of my kids can see ghosts. I am a psychic/medium, I don't see them though, I can feel them and 'see' them 3rd eye and communicate with spirits or ghosts. My grandchildren can also communicate with ghosts.

Watch the program 'Psychic Kids" on A & E or The Bio Channel. Lots of kids can see and comminicate with spirits or ghosts.

She could be an indigo or a crystal child, though I am not well versed in either. There is a ton of info on line about indigos and crystals.

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When he was about four, my son said he saw a huge reptilian bird swoop down into our back yard. I never figured that one out! But he's fine at 13. I think it's just a developmental thing, as the brain is making its connections and growing, etc. I'd like to know if you get any more info. on this; but I don't think it's a cause for worry.

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I am willing to bet it is a ghost or spirit.
Even if you don't believe in psychics or things like that, must people believe in spiritual warfare, supernatural stuff on some level.
There are spirits, ghosts, angels, whatever you want to call them.
She sees something big and white and fuzzy, a child doesn't know what to call it, so she calls it what she knows.
It is normal for children and animals to be more sensitive to stuff like that.
No worries :)

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my son sees Papa, who passed in September. The night of his passing, I was with gma (out) and he was with daddy (at home)... just before he went to bed he said "daddy I see a ghost, good night." The time was just right for it to have been Papa. Then at the funeral he KNEW that he would see Papa again and was mad at the adults who were sad because he can still see Papa and wanted to leave. Plus somedays he says "Papa told me to watch cartoons mommy" (that was thier thing) and I would ask him to show me the picture of Papa (there are a few in the house) and he shows me Papa every time. No matter how many times I move the pictures of him and make him search for the pics of Papa. My family is very "in tune" with the spiritual world and I would ask her more questions when she brings it up, bring pics of polar bears and other things that are simmilar for her to help you visualize what she is seeing.

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Have you asked her when you're going by them???? Maybe she can point them out to you!!

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thats my thought that it might be the headstones. i would take her into the cemetary and ask her to point them out to you. she might be seeing ghosts and not sure what the hazy white figure is so is calling it a polar bear. JUST KIDDING. ask her to show you. thats what we do for our son. its usually a rock or somehting we would never thought of.

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Our son was about 3 yrs. old, when he saw cows in our backyard. He would pull up a chair & just stare. We didn't see ____@____.com, that he's older, he hasn't told us about anything else.

Hope this helps. Who knows, maybe our children have a gift!!!

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I'm not an incredibly spiritual person and I'm a skeptic in many aspects of life too. However, I do think ghosts exist and think it might be possible that children see things we don't. Sure, it's possible she's seeing something random out there that actually exists (like shadows, etc.). Maybe you can walk through and have her point it out to you. Although, maybe she's actually seeing spirits but can't really make out what it is. The only reason I throw out such an outrageous remark is because a friend of mine's son would always see a "boy in their backyard." The boy he was seeing was always dressed the same. In a red shirt and orange pants (or something along those lines). He was even more descriptive and always described the same thing. He was very detailed about it. Like, "he's hiding right there underneath the lawn chair, see him?" It really spooked the family because he was only about 3 at the time. He's 6 now and as far as I know, he doesn't see him (or anything else) anymore. As skeptical as I am, maybe spirits make themselves known to children. I can't believe I'm even typing this (so unlike me) but it's something to ponder. Regardless, I don't think anything wacky is going on with your child.

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Hmmm . . maybe the white gravestones could look like a polar bear to her. Wild imagination. . . but It could happen. Or she could very well be seeing something. .

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My understanding is most children are currently indigo children. It can also be imaginary friends or even protector animals.

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What, praytell, is an indigo child? Indigo Girls: the indie band back in the day. Never heard of an indigo or crystal child until this post.

I think kids are kids. Highly unlikely that a ghost polar bear is floating around the graveyard in TEXAS. Re: the stones-gray, white, it's all the same to a little kid. My 4 year old weirds me out sometimes with the stuff he does and what comes out of his mouth.....but they are pretty imaginative. Not sure why you wouldn't prompt a conversation. When out jogging, when she says "oi, there's a polar bear", stop and say "where?" ; if possible walk up and try to see it from her view.

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my kids have VIVID imaginations!!! My oldest swore for years that she had met a bird by grandma's house named Lionel, I can't remember LOL It was a name she'd never heard before, I'd never read her a book about anything similar, but she swore this bird followed her from grandma's house to our house and then again when we moved. I think it was her way of coping with not being able to see her grandma as much as she'd like to (my husband is in the Army, so we live several states away), and coping with moving at the age of 4. He was her "constant", her friend, maybe her protector =)
Now my younger daughter who is now almost 5 herself has always made up the most ridiculous stories...and she could repeat the same one many times without making a mistake =)
It's awesome to have a good imagination!! Next time she says something about the polar bears, ask her about them! How big are they? What color are they? How many are there? Do they have names? Do they live there? What do they eat? How old are they? This will inspire her to expand her imagination and creative skills. It's a really important tool, whether she grows up to be a teacher, doctor, business woman, whatever =)

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Um, shes super bored in a stroller and making up polar bears for fun???

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it's not necessarily the color white she's seeing as a polarbear. It may be the shape of something. My daughter was talking about a polar bear everytime we went to this one park. There wasn't anything that I could see that looked like a polar bear to me, I couldn't understand why she insisted there was a polar bear at the park until she pointed out a shadow on a rock. It didn't look exactly like a polar bear to me but to her it did. It's funny that both our daughters see polar bears!!!

She also sees a turtle in the celling fan of our bedroom. :)

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I think she can possibly see things we can't. Talk to her more about it. Of course I believe in that stuff so who knows. :-)
As far as OP saying "Jessica you are so crazy!!" in her post. She was playing around so calm down Suz its all good.

yes. most littles (and cats and horses) see things that adult brains filter out. my younger had a lot going on when he was little, which i think accounts for him being uber-pragmatic now!
i think it's pretty dang rude to respond to one of your respondents by calling her crazy. if the only response you will accept is 'yes, it must have been a ghost polar bear' you should be pretty specific about it in your question.
i think the whole indigo and crystal children paradigm is bunk. parents need to feel that their kids are *special* and make up pretty labels to hang on them so they can feel superior.
khairete
S.