WHEW! I'm exhausted for you! Take a long hot shower and have a tall cold beer. We'll all be sending good thoughts into the universe for the Pistons, okay? Well...except for the Spurs fans

Thanks for the back-up Yawtza.

Like you said, I go through things looking at all the obvious answers before accepting them to be paranormal. Most the time you can find a logical reason behind things.

I only post in threads where I've had personal experience in a topic. I know in my mind at least if I'm claiming something it's as real as can be to me at the very least.

Sprinkles you asked how I knew spirits were around, it's just a sense, sometimes a touch, smell I've even seen a couple and have been able to confirm the spirits identity with one of the sightings.

I've grown up in that sort of envirnoment, for a non-believer it's hard to understand, but I'm open to peoples beliefs and I ask for the same in return.

I don't always agree w/ this guy, but this is SO true. While I don't think you should subject your child to a barrage of tests, I think you should remain neutral on the subject. Encouraging a belief in ghosts (especially at this age) can lead to problems. I'm not saying discourage that child from talking, but be careful. If they get your undivided attention and encouragement, they tend to "elaborate". It's even worse to grill your child about this. You could unintentionally put thoughts into the child's head that weren't there before. Just listen with the demeanor of being impartial, but not to the extent that the child thinks you're either not listening or don't believe her. It's a fine line.

Yes!

I can see both sides of the issue here, so I'll toss my pennies into the pond, so to speak.

As a mother of 4, I can honestly say that I believe that children can see things we don't. I also believe that they have...what can I call them??...protective forces...around them, and that they are visible to the child as well.

Here's a quick example: My husband, my 1-year-old daughter and I were living in an apartment building shortly after moving out of my parents' house. We had just gotten a picture of the Last Supper from my in-laws, and hung it on the wall. I was staying at home full time with my daughter, and because she was very colicky, I was with her at all times during the day and night. At night, I would rock her and sing "Jesus Loves Me" to get her to sleep. Now, one day we were looking at pictures in my album, and I pointed out relatives to her, since we lived miles away from my side of the family. Now, on a whim, I stood up, held her in my arms, and asked her "Where's Jesus?" Usually when I did this, she would point toward the sky. This time, however, she pointed behind my head, so I turned around. Behind me was the Last Supper painting. I walked closer to it, and asked her again, and she pointed RIGHT to the man in the middle!

Now, *could* she have seen a picture somewhere else before then? Sure. Could it have been a simple coincidence -- she just pointed to a man in the painting, and it happened to be the correct one? Sure. I'm not saying that neither of those scenarios could be possible.

But think on this -- *some* people who were formerly considered possessed by Satan were found to be mentally ill, and some people used to refuse to believe that idiot savants were real. Who really knows the power of the human mind? Although the 10% statement is a myth, who knows whether the things we pass off as coincidence could really be possible?

Just my two pennies causing ripples...

~Scarlet~

That's a lovely story Scarlet.

Holy S--t! I was gone for two days and all these posts popped up!!!

Lol @ Xiosk.

And thank you, Tia.

~Scarlet~

Hey im a Kid and i dont see spirits, geuss im just unlucky

We've got tons of spirits, just lying about our house. I'll send a couple your way.

lol

That's the thing, not everyone will see/ feel spirits. You're not unlucky.