Do Babies And Toddlers See Things That Adults Can’t?
I am not one of those people who has really put much (or any) thought into spirits, ghosts, afterlife, paranormal, blah, blah. That’s not me, not my thing.
When I was three years old, I had an imaginary friend named Cutie. My mother tells me Cutie was not a 24/7 friend, but she would pop up some days to play with me. Cutie was tucked in with me at night, had to brush her teeth and get ready for bed, Cutie basically had to do everything I did. Some say imaginary friends are really ghosts or spirits and not a vivid imagination. Do I think I was playing with a ghost? No, I think I needed to be enrolled in a playgroup.
When Sayle was an infant, he used to smile and laugh all the time; I was told by several people the smiles and giggles were the angels whispering in his ear. I like that theory, I think it’s sweet…it definitely beats thinking it is gas. But there have been two incidents where Sayle has exhibited behaviors that definitely cannot be attributed to gas.
If someone I can't see is making Sayle laugh, I hope it's my grandmother
I was feeding Sayle in the high chair one afternoon and he kept looking in the living room laughing and grinning. After a bit, my mother and I turned to see what he was laughing at, but nothing was there, just an empty room. We looked at each other, shrugged, and continued chatting. Then we noticed he was tracking something with his eyes so we looked up and again, nothing was there. Whatever he was seeing moved from across the living room ceiling, into the kitchen, and to the backdoor, his eyes never diverted to anything else. It caught his attention twice because a few minutes later he was tracking it across the ceiling again.
The second incident (which prompted this crazy blog) happened on New Years Eve. Sayle refused to go down for a nap. After allowing him to cry it out for a while; I went in his room to rock him. Still not giving in, I decided I would take him to our room to see if he would settle down. I was lying with my back to the wall/closet, facing him, one arm under my pillow and the other around him. He started going into that sleepy daze so I closed my eyes to encourage him to do the same. Approximately three minutes of silence went by and all of a sudden Sayle broke into hysterical giggles. Naturally, I opened one eye to see what was so funny, thinking it is one of the dogs. Sayle was looking over my shoulder towards the closet and laughing in a pattern like someone was playing pee-a-boo with him…like on again/off again laughter. I knew there was nothing behind me so I didn’t move a muscle and just watched him.
After about a minute of the giggles, with his eyes still locked on whatever was so funny, he pointed at me and said, “mommy” like someone was saying, “where is mommy? Show me where mommy is” and he was telling them. Then he pointed to my husband’s side of the bed and said “daddy” several times. Then he continued to say “mommy daddy” while fully engaged in NOTHING visible over my shoulder.
Yes, it freaked me out too so we got out of bed.
I know I sound crazy; watching the scenario play out was crazy, reading this over sounds crazy!
I have googled myself to death looking up information on what children see and a lot of what I found is far-fetched. However, if Sayle was “playing” with a ghost, I’m just hopeful it was my grandmother who passed away the month before he was born. She was very excited to meet him and we were very sad she didn’t get that opportunity, but the family thinks she probably met him before any of us did.
Has your child ever interacted with something that wasn’t there? What are your thoughts on children seeing ghosts and spirits?
I too have experienced this type of behavior with my children when they were younger. It does leave one second guessing the possibilities. However, I find comfort in believing that children are so open to life and what is really out there, that they have the abilitiy to see beyond what limitations we have set for ourselves through society. We may never know “who” was making faces or playing peek-a-boo, but we can feel secure in believing it was someone who cared enough to make a presence and show some love from beyond the typical realm of things.
I have always heard that children can see angels, so maybe little Sayle did see something there; maybe your grandmother is his guardian angel (:
What a lovely thought that your Grandmother Faine is making her presence known to Sayle. Children are so innocent and open minded that I think it is entirely possible they can sense those things in a way that most adults no longer can. I think it is reassuring that our loved ones that have passed on from this life may be watching over us. Who wouldn’t want a benevolent guardian angel after all?
1-Kelly, yes I read a lot about how children are more open to things than adults, or even older children and I can see that being possible. I totally agree with you, if there was a “who” making these faces or playing with Sayle, they cared enough to make an appearance to our little Sayle and your children. My grandmother was looking forward to meeting Sayle and I honestly have a feeling that she has.
Sarah-My grandmother was a wonderful woman who was full of more spunk than I am. I am hopeful that she is Sayle’s guardian angel as I would be 100% confindent she would take good care of him!
Grandma-It is completely reassuring to think what Sayle is seeing could be Faine! She was definitely something else, even thinking about her brings a huge smile to my face.
When my nephew was little he had second sight and he had invisible playmates he called “the pea-hes” Some of them were good but some were bad and they lived outside under the bushes in the garden where he would point them out to me and tell me about the bad ones that lived underground who wore brown hoods and did bad things that the other pea-hes didn’t like. Now 26 years old, re still recalls seeing them and told me he remembers them fading to become transparent and finally invisible so that when he was 5 years old he could no longer see them.