I had the strangest conversation with my 3 year old nephew yesterday.  My older nephew (who is 6) and I were talking about babies (my sister-in-law is pregnant) and where they come from when my younger nephew made a remark that he came back to this life 3 years ago.  I thought that was odd considering how young he is and how limited his vocabulary is.  I asked him where he returned from and he said, "I was with God and then I came back."  I asked him if he remembered what being with God was like and he said, "it was fun!"  Unfortunately, we were interrupted by someone so I wasn't able to ask him anymore about it, but what do you all think of this?  Does it mean he remembers life on the other side or is he just a little kid babbling?   ;D

Thanks.

He could be a Crystal child.  :D

http://www.thecrystalchildren.com/

Love,
Mairlyn   :D

Polly,

What are the religious beliefs of your nephew's parents?  Are they compatible with what he said about the preexistence of his soul?  At that age, kids pick up whatever ideas they are exposed to.  If he was not exposed to those kind of religious ideas, then it's a good bet he really is remembering something from the other side.  For example, if his parents are agnostics or fundamentalists.  But if they tend toward the "new age" side of things, then he could have just overheard them talking about ideas like this.

Freebird

His parents are definitely not "New Age" types at all.  They are Catholic, but don't really talk about it too much.  My nephews' grandmother (my Mom)  died last year and I know they've told my nephews that she is in Heaven, but I don't believe they've ever said she is "with God" so I'm not sure where he picked up that terminology from.  I also don't think they've ever talked to my nephews about the soul.

Next time I see him I'll have to ask him a few more questions.  Are there any specific questions I should ask?

Sounds like your nephew might really have pre-life memories.  I suppose he could have picked up the idea from TV or some other source, but it seems unlikely.  The parental influences are the strongest at that age.

If you are going to ask him about it again, make sure not to ask leading questions.  Whatever questions you ask should be very open-ended, so that any answer you get is really coming from him.  Here are a few questions I would be interested to ask if I were in your position:

* What was God like?  (See whether or not he gives a stereotypical answer like "an old man on a throne" in which case it's probably something he heard in this life.)

* What did you see and do when you were with God?  (See if he talks about stereotypical ideas of heaven, or something else.)

* Were you alone with God, or was anyone else there?  (Maybe he'll surprise you and speak about dead relatives or something, which would show he was really in the other world.)

* Do you remember anything from before you were with God?  (See if he talks about a past life on earth -- just don't say anything to encourage this response.)

Those are some of my ideas.  If he tells you anything noteworthy, please keep us posted!

Freebird

Dear Polly,

You and Freebird might be interested in a conversation I once had with a woman I'll call M.  I met M over a drink in a bar in Cambridge Mass.  M was the director of the Day Care Center for the Harvard School of Education.  She shared some amazing comments made by the 2-3 year olds under her care. One little girl suddenly pointed out, "It's your birthday today, isn't it?"  M was shocked because she hadn't told the kids this.  M replied, "Yes it is, but how do you know?"  The child calmly explained, "I found out in heaven before I was born. I found out my Mommy's birthday and and my uncle's birthday in heaven too."  

Another child once proudly proclaimed to M: "During naptime I fly all around the room.  The other kids do too, but they don't know it."  Again M was stunned and asked, "Why don't they know that they fly around too."  The little boy frowned and observed, "Well, it's like a little mousy doesn't know that he's a mouse."  

Curious, M notified the parents about their kids' bizarre comments and asked them if they spoke to their kids about psychic experiences.   All the parents were incensed: "No, we don't believe in that nonsense.  Don't you be putting weird ideas into their minds either!"  So apparently the children's comments were not fueled by their parents' discussions of psychic phenomena.

Whether you believe in reincarnation or not (I do not!), the first child's inexplicable knowledge of these birthdays at least seems to suggest the preexistence of her soul prior to birth.  And as I have said elsewhere, the soul's preexistence is a well established, but neglected early Judaeo-Christian belief.  

Berserk

Thanks Herb. My new great grandson is a Crystal child and I think that's one of the reasons that I'm moving up to be near my family again. I want to watch him develop. I sent them a book on Crystal children to help them to understand. He's 8 months old now and I can't wait too see him again. When I first saw him at 3 months, his eyes.........well, it was like looking into the depths of his soul and all knowledge. I don't know how else to describe it. He's an old soul and here to help. It will be amazing to watch him develop.  :o

Much Love,
Mairlyn   :D

I'd believe just what the youngster said, ver batim. You might describe the situation differently, but that's different.

My wife asked my 3 yr old granddaughter, "Tina, where did you come from?" She answered, "Mommy's tummy, Gran'ma." My wife continued, "And before that, where?" She said, "Oh, I was a cook." The kid's a dead ringer for great-great-grandpa who was a cook.

Kids haven't as yet learned to tune out the spiritual in favor of the dominance of the material world.

- dave

Berserk,

Thanks for sharing the stories from "M."  Fascinating stuff!

Freebird

If you'd like to see more along these lines - you might enjoy checking out a book I used (along with others) with a college level/senior year class on Child Development I was teaching a few years back...:  Children's Past Lives - how Past Life Memories Affect Your Child, by Carol Bowman, NY, Bantam Books, 1997.

From the couple of actual conversations I had with Carol at the time, along with personal experiences with kids over the years, it's not too unusual for parents and "others" to squash/quash/quickly dismiss things children say along such lines -- and write it all off as hooey (for their own reasons of course)...  but if "you're open to it", it's always nice to find out such things are more common than one might think!    ;)