Children with Gifts

I met an eight-year-old girl named Robin. She could see spirits, talk to animals, and notice medical issues within other beings’ bodies, and had an all-around sensitivity to the other world. Her mother brought her to me because she felt like it would be good for Robin to meet someone grown who has the same sensitivities or gifts (give or take a few) as Robin.

What I expected on our meeting was much different then what actually unfolded. I expected to spend an hour talking to my animals and laughing about what they had to say. But instead Robin talked about a girl spirit her own age that pretended to be her friend and then turned out to be a scary bother. This happens to many gifted children. I have experienced something similar in my adult years. I know it can be tiresome and stressful trying to convey to the spirit that you want to be left alone. Robin talked about seeing illnesses in animals’ and humans’ bodies and easily picked out where Stormy, my Aussie’s, hips are hurting him. She instinctively placed her hand on his hips as if she unknowingly was trying to heal him.

I asked Robin to look at a picture of my grandpa’s dog who is missing, to see if she could pick something up on where Darby is located. This I regret wholeheartedly. It is not age-appropriate. Robin looked at the picture and expressed that Darby, the dog, was in a pickup truck at a gas station with a man with a gun. The man was telling Darby to stop yapping or he would kill her. This did not ring true on many levels. Darby is lost in a wealthy suburb of New York City. She is also debarked and is not one to make a sound when stressed. On the way to my house, Robin and her mother saw an accident where a pickup truck had just been victim to a fire. Robin’s psyche could have been picking up something from that accident, or she could just be a child with a very active imagination exposed, as are most children, to way too much violence.

Robin also talked about wondering if a bad spirit is tricking her because she is hearing her stuffed animals talk, and said that she sees a black dog spirit with white paws that she is not sure is a friend or not.

Robin’s mother is doing her best to nurture Robin’s gifts, to expose her to grown-ups with the same abilities as Robin, and to psychically protect Robin from the darkness that can prey on ones with psychic abilities. She is trying her best to be a good supportive mom. She has expressed that Robin is feeling separate from the other children like her, perhaps outgrowing them.

When they left I felt a bit disturbed and frightened for Robin. I thought about my childhood and how I had many of the same abilities. I feel ignorance was bliss. When I saw a bad spirit I had no one to dissect the experience with, therefore I was forced to let it go. I thought my stuffed animals talked, too. I believe that is normal for eight years olds and can be an important tool for helping children to work out issues. This was wonderful playtime for me. Maybe it was spirits, fairies, or just my imagination. There is a part of it that is fun, that Robin can play with, and then there is the other part that she feels might be tricking her. My mother is in psychoanalysis. I know she would say that the black dog with white paws is a part of Robin’s psyche.

In my opinion, Robin is way too young to be exploring her gifts in the way that her mother would like her to. She doesn’t have enough experiences to distinguish what is coming from her imagination and what are real psychic facts. I once saw a program on genius kids. The experts were saying to the parents not to push the kids too hard. Be patient and watch. The child will instinctively gravitate to his or her most profound abilities.

I feel it is the same with psychic children. Yes, I believe Robin is gifted, but I also think that it is mistake for both Robin and her mother to think that she is different than most children her age. There are many psychic children out there. The difference is Robin’s mom notices and wants to nurture it. Trying to do so intensely, I believe—and I am not a child psychologist—could lead to mental illness, Robin believing she is a freak of nature (which I believe most psychics think at some point) and separating herself from her peers.

I feel Robin is scared to have an imagination. She is beginning to wonder if everything she imagines is a bad spirit trying to trick her. My advice to Robin’s mom is to back off on the psychic exploration a little bit. Send Robin to art class so she can explore her imagination, and take her to horseback riding lessons so she can be around other kids who love animals and have similar gifts as Robin. Think about what is age-appropriate. Know that if Robin talks about a scary spirit it could just be her imagination.

My bunny Bean told Robin that Robin has rainbow around her and an angel with her. Robin is going to be just fine and in my opinion will remember her gifts, if she wants to, when she much older.