Ghosts verus Guides As I tell each of my clients, “As a medium I connect with both your loved ones and your guides.” Children, as uninhibited intuitives, experience both type of Spirit as well. Let’s take my daughter as an example. If you saw the Facebook Live video of my daughter and the ghost friend she picked up at a local restaurant, you know she sees ghosts. In the video, she was talking with him and you could even see her continuously glancing over at him. It was apparent to me, because of how he presented in hologram form, that this was a Ghost. In this Blog, I’m referring to a Ghost as a Spirit that had recently taken a human or animal form. I’m not making a differentiation between Earth Bound spirits and those that have crossed into the light. That’s a topic for another Blog. For those not familiar, in short an Earth Bound spirit is one that chooses to stay on the physical plane whereas the Crossed spirit resides on the spiritual plane or “heaven.” These types of spirits are not the only spirits children have interactions with. Kids also interact with their Spirit Guides (or Guardian Angels). Again, let’s use Baby Girl as an example. She started talking about Roland a few months ago. At first he was a little boy, but over the weeks and months he has also appeared as a bunny and a dog. He is her guide. How do I know he is her guide? Again, it comes down to how the energy presented itself to me. Unlike the Ghost from the restaurant that I saw in hologram form, I have only felt and seen Roland as light. Additionally, unlike the Ghost which I perceived at the same moment my daughter did the Guide I didn’t perceive Roland until I heard her talking and tapped in. Why? Because her Guide is hers and part of her free will. You may be thinking, “That’s great... for YOU, but unlike you I don’t SEE spirit. How do I know what type of spirit my child is seeing?” Lucky for you, I’ve got a few ways you might be able to differentiate between the two. Appearance Ghosts always take the same form. The form the Ghost takes is typically the same physical form he or she had during his or her life. If the child sees the spirit as an older woman, the spirit will always be an older woman. Whereas a Spirit Guide is a more advanced spirit and is not limited to its physicality, the form changes form to fit the needs of the child in the moment. If the child needs a protector, the spirit may appear as a super hero whereas if the child needs a companion the spirit may appear as a dog. What is important to note, despite the form the Guide takes the child will always recognizes the spirit. This explains Roland’s appearance as a little boy, bunny or dog and my daughter continues to call him Roland. Details Children will describe Ghosts using very realistic details. For example, the ghost may be described as having blonde hair and brown eyes. Why? The Ghost, again, had a human (or animal) form and this is what he or she presents to the child. On the other hand, a child may describe their Spirit Guide (even if they are saying it is a little boy or older woman) with unrealistic descriptors such as having blue polka dot skin or wings. In my daughter’s case, Roland can shrink down to the size of a thumb. He shrinks so he can be put in her pocket and go with her wherever she goes. Frequency Ghosts appear less frequently than a child’s Spirit Guide. Ghosts, like a grandmother or good friend, pop in to say hello but are not around all the time. Spirit Guides, like parents and siblings, live with the child. As a result, it is not uncommon for the child to interact with the spirit on a daily basis. Familiarity Children tend to be more familiar or comfortable with their Guides. These spirits do not tend to frighten a child. For one, they appear in a form that is warm and nurturing to the child. Secondly, just like a child turns to his or her parents for comfort because he or she has been there since birth. A child turns to his or her guide in the same way. Ghosts (even the friendliest of them) may frighten the child. They are, after all, strangers. Pay attention to these details, and you will find it is easy to tell if it’s a Ghost or just a Guide. Please share with me. What is the child in your life seeing? In my book, I talk about Cara and her intuitive daughter, Paige. Paige connects with her deceased grandfather and uncle (and even her uncle’s favorite poochie!). These interactions make Cara uncomfortable as the details she shares regarding these family members is alarmingly accurate and leave Cara uncertain how to respond.
There are many open-minded parents who find themselves in these situations. When asked, I always tell them to be inquisitive and supportive of their child’s gift. Most importantly, don’t be alarmed, frightened or give any indication to the child that their interaction is abnormal. Easier said than done I realized when I recently found myself in a similar situation. It happened the other day while my daughter and I were cuddling before bed, she pointed at my t-shirt and said, “Da-fin.”  While I get teary eyed over the thought of my daughter entering pre-school (she starts next week), many parents are giving a collective sigh of relief that their kids are going back to school. Summers are filled with fun and excitement with carnivals, road trips and late nights. All of this activity disrupts a family’s routine and by the end of summer, the lack of routine can be uncomfortable (hence the excitement for the beginning of school).
Unfortunately, getting back into a routine with the start of school can be a challenge. The new school year and its accompanying afterschool activities such as sports and homework have people going rushing from place to place. Until a family gets back into a routine, this chaotic energy is uncomfortable for all individuals. It is especially uncomfortable for those children sensitive to energy. As intuitive (all) children go back to school, parents often see behavioral changes such as disrupted sleep, outbursts, exaggerated fears, etc. Because of this, during this time of year I get calls from parents looking for assistance. Several friends have already asked! Being asked has always been strange. My daughter has never been to school so as a parent, I have no recommendations. Not only that, I’ve been blessed in a couple ways where I haven’t had to cross that bridge. For one, my daughter has always slept through the night. Even as an infant when she was nursing, I would get up, feed her and she would fall right back asleep. The whole process took no more than 15 or 20 minutes. And being self-employed, both my husband and my schedules are flexible and allow her to follow her own routine. We don’t have to hustle in the morning to drop her off at daycare or a sitter before going to a nine to five job. Rather, we can let her sleep until she wakes up as I’ve arranged my schedule to accommodate her. I don’t see clients until the afternoon, so there is no rush in the morning. I realize, however, my friends and clients don’t ask me my thoughts because I’m a parent. They ask me because I’m a medium. And in many cases, they have tried the recommendations their mom friends and even health care providers have offered and they are still struggling. So as a medium, my recommendation is always to balance the child’s energy. The best way to do that? Get a good night’s sleep. I know this can be easier said than done, but here are a few tips that can help.
Hope that helps! Good luck as the school year begins!!  Having been an intuitive child and knowing that ALL children are extremely connected with the Spirit world, I was mentally prepared to have an intuitive child. I thought it would be easy… I’m the EXPERT after all.
What a joke!! While I may have been mentally prepared knowing I had tools in my toolkit to help my child embrace her intuition, I recently came to the realization I am NOT emotionally prepared to raise an intuitive child. I also have a new appreciation for parents who are struggling with intuitive kids, who I lovingly call kids that see sparkles. What brought on this realization? It was a normal day. My husband, daughter and I were in the car taking a route we ALWAYS take. You see we live just off Harlem Road in Snyder, if we want to go almost anywhere in Buffalo the easiest route is hopping on the highway at the 33/90 interchange. From this interchange we can go east or west, north or south. We take this route all the time so drive down the stretch of Harlem at least once a day. Why is this route important? If you are familiar with it, you know that this route takes you past Mount Calvary Cemetery. This is a sizable cemetery and as an aside it is where several of my family members have been laid to rest. Now that you have the background, to the story. As I said, it was a normal day. We were taking my daughter to her sitter’s and I was going to my East Aurora office. My husband and I were sitting in the front seat discussing the days to-do list. Everything was routine… that is until we hit the cemetery and an ear-piercing shriek came from the back seat. If you’ve watched some of my videos you know my daughter likes to interrupt when she is not the center of attention (she’s 2!! What do you expect?), so when the shriek came from the back seat I initially thought she wanted us to pay attention and talk to her. In an order to appease her, I addressed her and continued the conversation with my husband. This usually calms her. It didn’t in this situation. Instead, she let out another shriek and then started babbling incoherently to herself. Unable to understand what she was saying as she was talking faster than normal and her pronunciation (again, she’s 2) isn’t always great, I assumed she was ok and turned back to the conversation (we had a busy day scheduled and lots on the agenda to discuss). But soon I realized this wasn’t a normal conversation. My daughter was getting more and more anxious and louder and louder. Then a couple words became clear. “Ghost!!! No. Go way, Ghost! You bring Rodney? No? Go way Ghost.” My husband and I looked at each other. Each of us were white and dumb-founded. And then we looked out the window and realized that we were driving past the cemetery. I was not prepared for this. Momma bear mode kicked in. I wanted to protect my baby. So, I pulled my tools out of my toolkit and immediately bubbled the car, asked my guides to step in and serve as the bouncers, tuned in to see what ghosts that were in the car and then forcefully instructed them to get out (with a few choice words about not bothering my daughter ever again). But in the midst of doing that I stopped. I realized, “wait, baby girl is protecting herself.” She didn’t need me to do it for her AND more importantly me doing it for her didn’t empower her to take care of herself. She NEEDS to know how to protect herself. I’m not going to be with her all the time after all. So just as quickly as I jumped into action, I stopped. Instead, rather than protecting her I encouraged her to tell the ghosts to go away. As a mother, the time it took to pass the cemetery (which as it just so happens, we decided to go all the way down to Walden that day to stop for a coffee) was the longest few minutes I’ve had in a while. Time creeped. But she (and I) made it through. And she is better because of it. More importantly, I have confidence that next time a spirit decides to pop in baby girl is equipped to deal with it. Just like me, it is likely your kids will have an experience you want to help them with. Be it with a spirit, with a friend or the playground bully. They, like my baby girl, will get through it. If you find your kid is encountering spirits or things you can’t see, remind them that they have the power. Encourage them. Don’t show them your fear or anxiety, it will only cause them to doubt themselves. They are stronger than you think, and you are probably like me, trained them well for their encounters! Like I said at the beginning, I was prepared mentally… but emotionally, wow! Being a parent is hard!!  An unusual trait the females in my family share is active sleep. On our best nights’ we toss and turn, wiggle and squirm. On the worst, we punch and kick. In addition to moving all over the place, we talk. A lot. We are even known to have full conversations while still sound asleep.
This trait starts early, often as night terrors, night mares and vivid dreams as young children. My mom vividly recounts a night when I came screaming into their room, sound asleep, frantic that a snake was chasing me. When my daughter started having night terrors a few months ago (yup this has been passed down to her!), the first time my aunt witnessed it she said it reminded her of the many nights my cousin arose with night terrors. As I said, it runs in the family. I shouldn’t have been alarmed when it was passed down another generation to my daughter. But, as a first-time mom, even being aware that it was likely she would exhibit these, after my daughter’s first night terror I did what most first-time moms do. I googled. I read article after article trying to get a better understanding of the cause and treatment of these alarming fits. The literature suggests these disturbances are often brought on by sleep deprivation and extreme tiredness, stress, fever, and sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings. These factors made some sense. The night terrors did start occurring more frequently when my daughter decided she no longer needed an afternoon nap. Without her nap, she has probably been more sleep deprived. Additionally, every time she stays overnight at a family member’s she wakes them with her screaming fits as she remains sound asleep. But, as we have been tracking her sleeping patterns, we have found the night terrors occur just as frequently on days she has had a nap as days she hasn’t. And the family member’s she sleeps at, she has been sleep-overs since she was three months old, have noticed the increase as well. And we know she hasn’t been having fevers, and I don’t think she has been under any undue stress. So I have sat back, scratched my head and pondered what else might be going on? Why else might she be having night terrors? And why might they be so prevalent in my family? It got me thinking and wondering if night terrors might be linked to intuition. The literature suggests night terrors most often occur during stage 3 non-REM or delta sleep. This is the non-REM sleep stage where dreaming does occur. It is also suggested that during delta wave sleep, a person’s deepest sleep, that one’s body heals and the individual can access the unconscious mind. This led me to more questions… could this active sleep and the dramatic night terrors be because she is intuitive? Is she interacting with the other side? Could she be astral travelling? If she is doing these things, why (at least from my perspective) are these experiences disturbing. Wouldn’t visiting the other-side be fulfilling. All sorts of questions arise. And unfortunately for these questions, the research and literature offers no answers other than the assurance that my child experiences no discomfort. Left with no answers and lots of questions, I’ve turned to the tools my husband and I use and I offer my clients that experience sleep disturbances. And you know what? They’ve worked!! At least a little… so here are what we are doing: Crystals – We have loaded her room up with crystals. Fortunately, she loves her rocks and is happy to have them in her room. Which crystals have we chosen? Quartz points in the window to disperse energy, hematite to ground her, rose quartz for nurturing and infinite for healing. In our bedroom, my husband and I have blue and black kyanite for dreams and to ease anxiety as well as a salt lamp. We have also been sure to remove all amethyst from her room, because while it is great for people that want to enhance their dreams those who are already experiencing dreams it can be worse. Grounding & Centering Exercises – To assist her in being more grounded and centered, we have been teaching Baby Girl breathing exercises, meditation and yoga. While she doesn’t do any of these for any length of time, we are getting her in the habit of using them to calm herself and release stress. At this point they are fun, and honestly I think she likes to copy momma, but they must be having some effect. Boundaries – Since Halloween, Baby Girl has recognized the difference between the living and Spirit. As she has been interacting with them, the sage advice my grandfather provided me with has been shared with her: “Acknowledge Spirit but then tell them to go away if you don’t want to be bothered.” She simply tells them, “Stop it.” And it works. We’ve reminded her she can do that at night. Time for Spirit – I encourage my students to take time to communicate with Spirit every day, and if possible the same time every day. I do the same thing with my daughter. Every day we take a moment to connect with our loved ones that have passed be it my grandmother or grandfather, my husband’s father, my uncle and many others. By doing that, hopefully they won’t bother her as much at night. These tools seem to be working. Our plan is to keep it up! Hope they work for you too!!  A few months ago, in the Blog We are Living in a Spider Web, I wrote about the concept of universal consciousness. If you didn’t get to read the blog, before you go any further I highly encourage you to go back and check it out, but if you are crunched for time let me quickly describe the concept of universal consciousness. Universal consciousness is the concept that there is one universal, omniscient mind that pulses through each of us. This energy, this shared knowledge, impacts each of us with or without our recognition. Mediums, healers, philosophers, everyone taps into this universal consciousness to grow and evolve. The active seeking of knowledge, I recognize all the time. I often forget that the universal consciousness impacts people now seeking. I was reminded of this recently, however, through observing my little girl. Being a child of the 80s and 90s, I was raised with the concept I could do anything and I didn’t (and perhaps shouldn’t) be too girlie. That concept stuck. And upon finding out my husband and I were going to be bringing our own little girl into the world, I wanted to ensure she too could be a strong, powerful, independent woman. To avoid the implication of outdated, female stereotypes, my husband and I took great strides to maximize androgyny. It started the moment we registered. Everything on our list was gender neutral or purple. We accepted hand-me-downs from friends with both boys and girls. We were blessed with tremendous generosity and weren’t going to be rude or picky, as our loot was full of pink outfits we asked that our family, if buying clothes, choose something in a color other than pink to diversify our daughter’s clothing selections. We continued our efforts to present our daughter with both masculine and feminine options when it came to her toys. Knowing that she would be gifted plenty of traditionally girl toys, such as dolls, from friends. And we were correct in this assessment. We have been blessed with tremendous generosity and hand-me-downs, in fact my daughter has more dolls than she knows what to do with! To ensure diversity we asked that when buying gifts our family opt for educational and gender neutral toys. Despite our efforts… my daughter has presented as a girlie girl. She dismisses her trucks and tool box in favor of her dolls and unicorn. She runs away from my husband and I while we try to dress her in pants and a sweatshirt, but pull out the frilly dress and she scampers over only to end the dressing session requesting a necklace. She truly is ALL girl. Now this isn’t a bad thing. I do want her to just be herself. But, I’ve struggled to understand how, after presenting her with both masculine and feminine options, does she always choose the feminine. My dear friend and colleague, Barbara Hallnan of Crystal Bridge Healing, had wonderful insight. During a recent conversation, she reminded me that little girls and little boys are impacted, not only by what they observe their parents, family, friends and strangers doing, but these little sponges absorb the energy of the world that surround us all. More importantly, Barbara reminded me that despite the fact we are shifting away from traditional gender roles, that energy does still linger in the world around us. The older generation harbors it. It resides in many children’s books. In traditional cultures, it is still very present. And even those wishing to make changes to the stereotypes, they reside within them as well. So these gentle souls will feel it. Barbara was so wise. And, although I knew this… It was a good reminder. After reflecting on the conversation, I could not only understand why she was drawn towards “girl” behaviors but also how she knew to do certain things. For example, I rarely wear lipstick. I put it on for Youtube videos and maybe (that’s a big maybe) fancy parties. Other than that, my lips are bare. My daughter, however, found my lipstick in my drawer and knew instinctively what to do with it. She maybe saw me use it once or twice, but now EVERY DAY after we brush our teeth she asks to put her lips on. CRAZY! It was also a good reminder, to give in and not try to mold my daughter. Let her mold herself. She has her dolls and unicorns, princess dresses and crowns. But she also has her blocks and beads, puzzles and crayons. And every once and awhile, a truck.   It is impossible to deny that the Winter Holidays are a crazy time of year. People are excited – the kids for Santa’s visit and adults to see the happiness in the children in their life and visits with loved ones. People feel hurried as there is so much to get organized and so many places to be. This frenzy causes people to become stressed. This stress is particularly hard energetically for intuitives. They feel their stress AND the stress in the universe around them.
I observe this trend every year with myself, my husband and now my daughter. To avoid this, we try to control our holiday activities and environments we enter this time of year. By doing this, we hope to avoid melt downs and discomfort. Despite our efforts, we aren’t always successful. In fact, an outing this week DEFINITELY left a LOT of room for improvement. We were at Vidler’s. If you have never been there, it is an adorable 5 & 10 Shop in the heart of East Aurora. The store, a maze of unique goods, is always a must hit while Christmas shopping as it has one-of-a-kind gifts for those hard to buy for people. And to be honest, it is just really fun to browse around. Knowing that it can be crazy in there, we planned our trip early in the day during the middle of the week with hopes of avoiding crowds. The store, when busy, can be hard to navigate… and with a toddler, my husband and I wanted to limit our stress. And our planning paid off, we found the store to be relatively quiet. SUCCESS! To further set ourselves up for success, upon entering the store our first stop was the popcorn machine. For ten cents, YES ten cents, we picked up a bag of popcorn for my daughter (and husband) to nibble on as we meandered the store. Having a distraction, something to focus on, helps when the energy of a space becomes overwhelming. And this trick worked as my family wandered aisle by aisle, room by room of the labyrinth that is Vidler’s. Anytime either my husband or I felt her begin to become unfocused or energetically overwhelmed, we immediately offered her popcorn and reminded her to hold my hand which she did as she happily gobbled down popcorn. The tricks worked like a charm! We made our way throughout the ENTIRE first floor without incident. At that point, we agreed we should skip the downstairs as we didn’t want to push our luck and headed toward one of the registers to purchase our finds. Baby Girl, however, was not ready to go. She eyed the stairs and started straight towards them. My husband and I eyed each other with a lot of hesitancy. The downstairs is more cramped than the upstairs. More cramped means not only will it be harder to navigate with more items for little hands to grab for, but the number of items could be overstimulating and energetically the it doesn’t flow as nice. Recipe for disaster. But, because she was doing so well and she was determined to see the downstairs, we relented thinking… eh, what the heck. We should have listened to our instinct. As soon as we got downstairs, she became more and more distracted. The vast number of gadgets and goods WAS overstimulating. The popcorn trick was no longer working. Then, the telltale sign we are minutes from a meltdown occurred. My daughter started pointing at people and stating, “Ghost.” Almost everyone we passed, she stopped and would say, “Hi Ghost.” Why is this a sign? Young children live with one foot on the physical plane and one foot in the spiritual realm. A protective bubble cast over them protects them from outside energies, including spirit. When that diminishes and they become ungrounded, they have a hard time distinguishing between those energies that exist in this realm and those in the spiritual. Hence her acknowledgement of the “ghosts.” Fortunately, as a medium, I can check in to see what she is seeing. Seeing that she is now having a hard time protecting herself, I knew it was time to go. But the strong-willed toddler she is, she didn’t want to. After trying to coax her up the stairs, we scooped her and kicking and screaming brought her up the stairs. Needing to check out, as we approached the register we put her down. She took that opportunity to bolt towards the stairs. Having longer legs, I was able to cut her off at a pass. Knowing she was beat, she crumbled crying to the floor. There she laid. Getting out her frustration… and more importantly, grounding herself. Worried someone would step on her, I stood over her and attempted to soothe her. Telling her it was “ok to be frustrated” and to “take a deep breath” – which she did – and to “let that frustration into the ground.” Most people gave sympathetic looks, a few rolled their eyes as to say why are you letting your child behave that way. But within a couple minutes, she was calm. The tears had stopped. She had refocused herself. And, she was giving me a hug. Without further ado, my husband marched her out to the car. I paid for our goods. We were on our way. Her situation isn’t that different than many we all face. To avoid those meltdowns, if you are intuitive, plan ahead and avoid the crowds. If a situation does get the better of you, take that time to let go of your frustrations. I don’t encourage you to lay on the floor and scream like my daughter did, but if it means stomping your feet or walking away to take a deep breath, do it. Once you are grounded and centered, come back to the situation that frustrated you… not to stay, but to leave. I encourage you to not overstay your comfort zone. We sometimes stay at a party too long because we are having a good time, but too much of a good thing isn’t always good. Like my daughter who was loved shopping, but was overwhelmed by it all. Take care of you. Take care of your energy. And, enjoy your holidays! While visiting with a friend recently, an interesting conversation ensued after she asked, “Dawn, do kids bring in <spiritual> energy?”
You might be asking, where did this question come from? Here’s her story… When her eldest, who is just a little over two, was born she and her husband noticed odd occurrences around the house that indicated to them someone or something was around. After a while, she attributed these occurrences to her uncle. Upon doing so, the occurrences slowed and she found comfort in this. Being spiritual, she expected upon the birth of twins recently that she would have sporadic visits similar to what occurred after her eldest was born. She was prepared for that. What actually happened was not what was expected. With the twins, not only were the signs more defined – for example musical toys would go off for no reason and orbs were captured on video – these happenings occurred ALL THE TIME. Her husband said it best when he said, “There is no interpreting or intuiting these things, they are just fact.” After recognizing the occurrences were harmless, she and her husband accepted them as just the way it is. What was harder to accept was what was happening to her. While pregnant, her intuition flourished. She felt and sensed more than she ever had before. After the boys were born, things began to change and she found that SHE was having sensory stimulation others weren’t. The smell of stale smoke and bad cologne would permeate the house. Despite searching the home for the source, she could find nothing. She also started hearing voices, like a muffled radio. Again she searched the house, but she couldn’t find the sounds coming from anywhere. There were also times she would swear she heard the boys, but upon checking the monitor they were sound asleep… for a few minutes at least, because without a doubt, within minutes of checking on them – someone was up. These occurrences disturbed her. She thought she might be going a crazy or something was physically wrong. Worried, she discussed it with her neurologist who diagnosed her with having incomplete seizures and put her on a medication. The medication dulled the experiences… but they continued. And, they expanded. Others began to experience them as well. Her husband began smelling the smoke. As did her sister and her significant other while they stayed at the house while the family was away. It was at this point she began questioning, what’s really going on. Hence her question to me. And getting back to it, YES – babies welcome spiritual energies into the home. Most new parents can recount a time during their child’s first year when something inexplicable happened (check out this blog to see my mom’s experience). Some parents embrace it and take comfort in the knowledge that a loved one is around. Others dismiss it as lack of sleep and a wild imagination. Either way, almost every new parent has an experience. In my friend’s case, her experience has been multiplied as there are two babies (three really). Hence the profound physical occurrences and it seeping over to her and her husband. The bleeding into her and her husband’s experience is because they are innately intuitive. So even before the boys, they were susceptible to paranormal activity (which both admit to having experienced). Then you add her pregnancy, which further connects a woman to the other side. No wonder so much is going on in their home. Fortunately, nurtured by the love of their parents, this energy is only good and protective. The more they cultivate this energy, the stronger it becomes.  The gift of intuition has truly made parenting my daughter easier. From the day she was born, both my husband and I have been in tune with her. Without a tear or whimper, we’ve been able to tell when she was hungry, sleepy, needed a diaper change or wanted to play. This knowing has made her, as my aunt always says, “the perfect child”.
While I call her “my unicorn,” I doubt she is the perfect child. She is, for one thing, stubborn. But we have been lucky and I am grateful our intuition has helped us. As of late, however, I am beginning to worry that while that intuition may be serving us… could it also be hurting us? You see, my daughter is now seventeen months old. And she RARELY talks. Yes she babbles. She has said “momma” and “poppa” (and apparently says these a lot on the days when we leave her with a sitter). And it is adorable when we ask her what a lion, dog, owl, cat or monkey says and she responds with the appropriate roar, woof, hoo, meow, or ooh ooh ooh. But, when asked to talk on command. She WON’T. Rather she sits and stares at my husband or I. Now mind you, I’m not worried that she has a hearing issue or is delayed and doesn’t comprehend what we are saying. Like I said, she has demonstrated comprehension… from (on her terms) making animal sounds, touching her body parts (she knows her belly, feet, nose, mouth, eyes and ears), showing us items when asked… she just WON’T talk. Remember I mentioned she was stubborn? And that stare she gives my husband and I is laden with a smirk that drips with the thought, “I’m NOT your puppet.” In those moments, I’m frustrated. Probably from being tired. But then when I sit back and think about it, I ask myself, “Why would she talk when she knows my husband and I understand her without words?” With telepathy she doesn’t have to expend the energy and she is, after all, able to get her point across. It is this thought that leads me to wonder if our intuition is getting in the way. Being able to think her desires to us works right now, within the confines of our walls and even when she is watched by my mom and my aunt – they are intuitive too, after all! Even our stand-by sitters are all intuitive and have stated that they are amazed at how easily Baby Girl communicates what she wants. But what happens when she goes off into the world outside of our safe little bubble? Not everyone is going to be able it intuit what she wants or what she means. And, what happens if because she doesn’t vocalize she doesn’t learn the speech patterns? Could she end up needing speech therapy? All the thoughts and worries that run through a first time mother’s head. Unfortunately, short of shutting down the entire family’s intuition, all I can do is to continue to coax her to develop her language. I’m sure, soon enough, I’ll be wishing I didn’t coax her and that she would have remained quiet for a little longer – remember, I mentioned she was stubborn? I think there is a little sass in there as well.  It was a day like any other. Except it was a Wednesday (my day off), so instead of talking to Spirit all day I was playing home-maker.
My daughter had just woken up from her afternoon nap and we were both in the kitchen. I was starting dinner, washing and putting dishes away. She was “helping.” We were both a whirlwind of energy. I went back and forth, from the cabinets to dishwasher to refrigerator AND when I needed to drop items into the recycle bin I’d take the few steps through my “reading” room to the outside. Baby Girl was on my heels with every step. That is until one of my trips to through my reading room. On this trip she stopped suddenly at the threshold with a panicked look. This look was followed by a whimper and then a WAAAIIIIL. At first I thought she was just annoyed that I was spending a little longer in the backroom. During this trip one of the boys had rushed out to do his business and was taking his sweet time. It was a nicer day and he knows that the longer he is out the more likely he is to get a cookie – which is really why he wanted to go out. Fortunately, without too much coaxing Rodney pranced back in. When he did, I scooped her up and gently comforted her while Rodney got his much anticipated cookie. And she calmed down. That is until I put her down. Soon as her feet hit the ground, the whimpering started again. Followed by a louder cry. With each tear her face scrunched up further. And then, after asking what was wrong, her little finger started pointing at the back door and reading room. Upon hearing the commotion, my husband appeared from the basement asking, “What’s going on? Everything ok up here? What’s wrong?” Grateful for the assistance, for the crying had distracted me away from the pan on the stovetop where ground beef was browning, I responded… “I’m not sure.” Baby Girl however, responding by whimpering and again pointing to the reading room. Immediately he responded, to both her and me, “Who is in the back room?” Now it should be noted this is not uncommon for Spirits to be hanging out in my reading room. They have a tendency to show up before their reading and “wait.” I think it’s because they are excited to have the opportunity to connect with their loved ones. This doesn’t really bother me. In fact, I hardly notice them anymore. What does bother me, however, is when they come into the rest of the house or bother my family. So with that in mind, my response to my husband was – “there is a man and two women. You know how it is. Showed up really early this week!” With Baby Girl still pointing (she’d stopped crying because my husband picked her up), I was informed, “Well, your people are bothering her…” He then turned to Baby Girl and said, “What do you think about us asking them to leave? Want to help me get rid of them?” To which she just nodded. Without hesitation, Don promptly walked over to the buffet, grabbed a smokeless smudge that was sitting out and started spraying it. While spritzing the spray and walking into the back room, he in his best Poppa voice stated “Ok you Spirits, it is time for you to leave. You are bothering Baby Girl and that’s not nice. Out you go!” They must have only be three steps into my reading room and Baby Girl was giggling and laughing. And a minute later, she was back around my ankles “helping” me cook dinner as if nothing had ever happened. That night Don and I recounted the experience. We had thought (and hoped!) we would have more time before we’d have to deal with this kind of issue. Baby Girl is only sixteen months old after all! Right now she has some verbal ability, but by no means can tell us what she is experiencing nor can we assure her that everything is going to be ok. All we can do is try to empower her. And that’s all I can encourage any parent in a similar situation to do. Empower the intuitive child to know they are in control and they can tell the Spirits to leave them alone. Until my daughter has a little more verbal skills, looks like I’ll be putting some more talisman up to protect the space. Might also have to be stricter with my spirit visitors.  People ask me when I’ll know if the “gift” of mediumship has been inherited by Baby Girl. It’s my belief that all children are born intuitive and instinctively aware of the energies around them. From my observations, this is the case with my daughter.
It became apparent early that she is sensitive to energy. On the winter solstice, she was carted along to a meditation I was leading. In honor of the solstice, a celebration of the darkness and new beginnings, the meditation walked those present into their own darkness and the realm of their fears. A visualization of the light around you fading into pitch blackness was used. When we got to the point in the meditation where people were encouraged to see all the lights go out and sit in the darkness of their fears, Baby Girl who was sleeping comfortably was startled awake and began screaming… was it a coincidence? Perhaps… I, however, think not. She continues to demonstrate her awareness of the energies around her, especially those of people. The other day we were at a friend’s home for a BBQ. When their eighteen month old son fell and started crying, she did not start crying with him (like most ten month olds would). Rather, she pushed against me (I was holding her) towards him in an effort to climb out of my arms to give him a hug, pat on the back and kiss as if to say, “It’s ok friend.” Again, could it be a coincidence? Could she be mimicking our behavior? Perhaps. My husband and I will continue to watch… but I’m pretty sure she’s in tune with energy. Being in tune with energy is one thing, but what about Spirits you ask? Can she see them? Well, I’m pretty sure she does… While changing Baby Girl’s diaper one day when she was about two and a half months… the tired, exhausted and annoyed at my kicking, fussy Baby Girl me was pleased to have grandmother pop in (from ‘heaven’) to lend me, if nothing else, a loving word of support. It had been a long, tough day (Baby Girl was in the middle of a growth spurt and NOTHING was making her happy) so the soft words of encouragement were VERY MUCH appreciated. In an effort to lend a little more help, she turned to make faces and soothe Baby Girl. As soon as her attention moved from me to my little one, Baby Girl’s head snapped to gaze directly in my grandmother’s direction. Baby Girl then proceeded to giggle and grab at the air toward where my grandmother was standing. Again, could this be a coincidence? Am I reading more into the situation that exists? Perhaps… But again, I doubt it. So what about psychic tendencies? We won’t be able to start determining that until she can talk, right? You’d think…. But we’ve already had some instances, without words mind you, she’s let us know what’s on her mind. For example, my dear friend is pregnant. As with any pregnancy, people like to guess what the gender of the baby is. Before she got pregnant, I was certain she was going to have a little girl. Once she became pregnant however, I changed my vote to little boy…. which was the consensus amongst folks. Not Baby Girl. The day before my friend’s ultrasound to reveal the gender, the three of us were out and we decided to get Baby Girl’s input. When asked, “Are you going to have a cousin Hunter?” Upon hearing the name, she scrunched her nose and grimaced. So we asked, “What about a Hannah?” To which she gave a HUGE grin and a giggle. At that moment, I turned to my friend and said, “Baby Girl thinks it’s a Hannah.” And you know what, she was right! The next day I received a text from my friend sharing the good news. It’s a girl. Baby Girl was right then, and now she’s adding her two cents towards the gender of another friend’s pregnancy. She is currently pregnant with twins and we thought it would be fun to see what Baby Girl’s thoughts are, so we asked about Lili and Piper. When asked she looked right at my friend’s belly. The movement was so dramatic, we were flabbergasted. So we asked again. And she did it AGAIN. So we thought we’d try Wyatt and Dylan. She just blew raspberries. Looks like if she’s right, there are another two girls on the way. We’ll see how her skills for predicting go… either way, I think I’m in trouble!! So… perhaps I’m a biased parent. But, it is my opinion she is sensitive… as most children are. Could that change? Absolutely…. but, not if I can help it. Now it’s just my job to nurture it and make sure she remains aware. Over the weekend I met with a dear friend. We talked about our families, but as usual the conversation led to Spirit and life purpose. Having young children, she was particularly interested in my venture, My Kid Sees Sparkles. And she wanted to discuss an experience her daughters had with me several weeks before.
Let me start off by saying, both her daughters are incredibly intuitive. My friend supports them every way she can which recently included bringing them to a gallery session to observe me and two other mediums. During the session the girls were very well behaved, but as typical elementary school aged kids do, about half-way through they begin to squirm in their chairs. I recall seeing this and in an effort to engage them decided to pass them a message. After passing a message it is forgotten, but apparently it was their uncle. The younger of the two was very pleased as it validated what she has been seeing and talking to her parents about. My friend reported that her daughter smiled from ear to ear for days telling her father and family any time they’d listen that Uncle B really was around! When we spoke this weekend, my friend expressed her gratitude, for she feels she doesn't see. And just before she left she said to me, “It is so important for intuitive kids to know ‘It’s OK… I see what you see.’ That is a gift you have.” It’s a gift that went used again this past week when a father brought his ten year old daughter to check out the Branches of Light Open House. He’s an empath who has been coming to classes to develop his own intuition but when his daughter came to him discussing her “visions”, he wasn’t quite sure how to answer her questions. But, he thought the medium he’d been developing with might. That’s why he brought her. He came early, and spoke with the other medium for some time. She was able to share her thoughts, but she admitted that she hasn’t worked with kids other than her own daughter and thought he should talk to someone else… and he was in luck because that person was at Branches… ME! She introduced us and then the three of us spoke for a good half hour. I gave lots of tips, but what was most profound to the little girl was the fact that I was able to describe the spirits she was seeing. It was okay, I saw what she saw. As, an aside… it also helped dad because he's pretty sure the spirits she’s seeing are his grandparents! I was able to tell these kids, it is OK. It is nothing to be afraid of. I see what you see…. that reassurance is so important. And not just to kids. This afternoon I met with a gentleman who sees auras vividly. For YEARS he believed the haze he saw around people and plants was a result of wonky contacts or perhaps a touch of glaucoma. That was until a friend’s daughter informed him, “No… you see auras.” Since that revelation, he’s honed his ability. But books have only gotten him so far and he has a desire to understand this energy more. This desire led him to ask if he could watch while I do a reading. Intrigued and curious, I answered OF COURSE!! I even had the perfect guinea pig in mind – a mutual friend who loves getting readings. So we tracked her down and played. It was a really cool experience. I was able to validate and explain what he was seeing while I was doing the reading (he saw three spirits come in and a direct connection between me and the sitter). AND, he was able to validate that what I feel and hope to accomplish during a reading really was happening! It was SO COOL! These interactions proved to me there really is something to, it’s ok I see what you see. Perhaps because we all want to know we aren’t crazy… or if we are, at least we have company.  Last week I met a dear friend and her two daughters for lunch. Her daughters are five and eight. They are intelligent, precocious, well-mannered little people. And, as you can probably expect, they are TALKATIVE.
Both are intuitive and they honored me by sharing their stories. At one point, the older of the two was giving my husband and I a complex explanation of her “people,” including where they reside both in her head and in ‘heaven.’ Unfortunately, with the attention shifted to her, the younger one began to pout and become withdrawn. Noticing this, her mother engaged her by saying “Hunnie, what’s wrong?” Without skipping a beat the older one said, “Momma, I’ll get Tilly (one of her people) to diagnose her.” My jaw dropped when I saw what happened next. A wave came over the little girl and she announced she was “Dr Tilly.” With her mannerisms and an impeccable southern accent, I swear she was channeling Mammy from Gone with the Wind! I literally did a double take. An actress couldn’t have pulled off the change in character so smoothly or so quickly. Just as quickly has she had slipped into the personality, she shifted out of it. Back as the little girl who had been talking about her people moments before, with great articulation and sophistication she shared the diagnosis Tilly had come to… the little one was jealous. This was resolved and the conversation continued on through a lovely meal and dessert. On our way out, I couldn’t help but ask my friend the transformation I had witnessed in her daughter. I was also grateful to hear that my husband, having seen the same thing was just as astonished. Having experienced it before, she hadn’t given it a second thought (you better believe she is now paying close attention now!!) After seeing this and hearing other friends describe their kids as doing the same thing (one has a little New Yorker and another has a Scottish lad), it makes me wonder: “Are these transformations those of past lives or are they from the children’s guides?” And, “Are they harmful?” Thinking about it, it probably doesn’t matter whether it’s a past life or a guide. And, it’s unlikely they are harmful. From my experience, children often find comfort, insight and support from these energies. I always urge parents to encourage it. (Check out My Kid Sees Sparkles for more on that!) On a side note, I can’t wait to see what personalities Baby Girl channels. Who knows, maybe she’s already doing it! Before the birth of Baby Girl, my mom friends gushed over the indescribable bond that exists between a mother and her child. I was told, “Just wait! It’s such an aah-mazing feeling.” The concept of the bond made complete and logical sense to me. The momma and baby are physically connected through the umbilical cord for over nine months! This would obviously result in a psychic connection and psychic connections (unless severed) continue throughout a lifetime. The psychic connection would be what most describe as a “mother’s instinct.” While pregnant, as talked about in the blog post Ordinary, I began to feel that bond. I was completely unprepared, however, for the feeling my fellow moms described. It’s a tug in the gut when Baby Girl is hungry, tired, unhappy, or wet AND an immense joy when she’s happy, tickled or excited. It boggles my mind that I actually FEEL what she feels. I didn’t expect that. Of course, it is probably advantageous to the child that a mom feels these things. For example, I know when I feel that she’s wet, I jump. Hungry? She doesn’t have to cry, before I stop everything and pull out the boob. Or then there are the times I hear her bopping to the beat of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” (over and over and over) in her head, I pop the song on the radio for her which ALWAYS results in a huge smile. This bond is awesome right now, but I do fret the day she is five and she decides she hates me because I won’t give her mango (her favorite food, which she asks for btw). Or, when she’s sixteen and her heart is broken for the first time. Or, when she (if she chooses) to have a baby of her own. Oh goodness, I love her but I hope I don’t feel that one! Maybe I’ll put a block on that one. Until then, I will continue to enjoy our extra special connection. And use that bond to MY advantage as well. For this tired momma, it’s helpful to know when she wants her purple chew toy rather than her teddy bear… cuts down on the fussing. And with a baby, that’s ALWAYS a good thing!  I receive messages all the time for others, and get a little annoyed when people don’t listen to them. Especially when they come back wondering why things haven’t changed BUT haven’t changed anything. I shouldn’t be so tough on them because it often takes me a half dozen times, OR MORE, to get Spirit’s message and actually act on it. That’s been the case recently.
Having been raised in a family supportive of my gift, I know how important familial encouragement is. Having been an outspoken, yet awkward youth, I also understand how uncomfortable it can be for an intuitive child trying to figure out how to navigate his/her life amongst peers (and adults!) who don’t understand the world of Spirit within which they live. A child’s intuition and creativity can be easily squashed by an unkind word as society favors conformity. Because of that, and as a new mom hoping to create a loving environment for my own daughter who already demonstrating signs of intuition, I have felt drawn to work with and help intuitive children and their parents. Finding the time, however, has been the challenge! (Did I mentioned I was a new mom?) Spirit, however, has kept reminding me that working with children should be something I do. Over the past few weeks, the message has gotten louder. A client and friend of mine has an eight year old who is incredibly intuitive and recently her five year old has also been demonstrating her own intuition. Wanting to support both of them, but uncertain the best manner by which to proceed, she shot me an e-mail to discuss. We spoke for about an hour, at which point she exclaimed “Dawn Lynn thank you so much! You NEED to do this for other parents. So many could benefit from you. You should write a book.” Following our conversation, that SAME week, I received two e-mails from parents requesting guidance for their kids; I ran into a fellow reader, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, who mentioned that she had recently encouraged a client of hers to reach out to me to discuss her daughter’s gifts; AND, at the psychic fair three parents came up to me to talk about their intuitive children. This all made me pause and scratch my head. Just as I was beginning to get the message that maybe NOW is the time to start something with kids, a colleague and friend, Moira, who has a two young children of her own approached me about starting a support group for parents of intuitive children! When I received her message, I literally laughed out loud and said to my husband “The message is loud and clear. I get it.” Rather than beating around the bush, Spirit finally hit me upside the head with a two-by-four. What’s even better, they gave me a way to accomplish the goal! I guess I can’t avoid the message any longer. Now is the time to work with kids! After making the decision, a friend and student of mine who has been bringing her ten year old daughter to development classes confirmed the need for work with not only children, but also their parents. She starting by thanking me for welcoming her daughter (who proudly states she IS a medium). But she went on to say, “I was getting a little worried bringing her because she began sharing her mediumship development with everyone she came in contact with. Afraid for her, I actually told her that maybe she should keep that to herself. After thinking about it, I changed my mind and told her I was wrong. She needs to be proud of who she is… but we also had a discussion about how some people may not be warm and welcoming to her beliefs.” In my mind, that’s a woman and mom I aspire to be like. Not every parent would have the strength, or even know how to address that issue. Thus confirming the need of a group for both children AND their parents. Stay tuned! Moira and I are working on it! |
AuthorDawn Lynn is an EveryDay medium. She lives and breathes via her intuition, which as a fourth generation intuitive from a family of Spiritualists came easily. Her abilities became apparent in early childhood and were cultured by a supportive family. Through her Blogs and Vlogs, she wants to help you become the EveryDay medium too. Categories
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