| Bringing a baby into your family is a joyful experience, | | | | behaviors that may indicate this is what you're dealing |
| filled with hope and promise for a bright and happy | | | | with. Please read it carefully and check which items |
| future. That first year is filled with learning about all | | | | apply to your situation: 1. Vivid, recurring dreams or |
| your child's developmental milestones, and having those | | | | nightmares. |
| twinges of concern when your child doesn't reach all | | | | 2. Unexplained fears or phobias. |
| of them according to the time frames established in | | | | 3. Unusual talent or giftedness. |
| the books and websites you spend hours poring over. | | | | 4. Knowledge of items, machinery, or processes from |
| Yet while the child development resources teach us | | | | another era that they would have no way of knowing. |
| about what to look for in our children's physical, | | | | 5. Talking openly about life in a different time. |
| emotional, and mental growth, as well as the red flags | | | | 6. Speaking in a foreign language or with a foreign |
| indicating when there may be cause for concern, there | | | | accent they have not been exposed to. |
| is one area I have never seen addressed in the | | | | 7. Looking for an item or person they are convinced |
| countless resources I've studied, and that is how to | | | | they had or knew, but you know that item or person |
| determine if your child might be experiencing a Past | | | | never existed. |
| Life Memory. | | | | 8. Repeatedly drawing a recurring scene, event, |
| Of the endless things we worry about encountering | | | | people, or items that are not a part of their daily life |
| when we have a new baby, this is surely an issue that | | | | and which they could not be aware of. |
| wouldn't even cross our minds unless we had | | | | 9. Spontaneously reading or writing. |
| experienced it before. Autism, Down's Syndrome, | | | | 10. Suddenly speaking with much more clarity and a |
| Deafness? All common concerns among new parents. | | | | broader vocabulary than used on a daily basis. |
| But a Past Life Memory? It never occurred to me. | | | | If your child has experienced any of these behaviors, |
| That is, until my son turned two and started having | | | | you may be dealing with a Past Life Memory. If so, I |
| nightmares and talking about the life of a man who | | | | would advise you to take the matter seriously, and |
| died in a burning plane. | | | | start keeping a detailed journal of events and |
| My book, Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World | | | | statements as they occur. More than likely your child |
| War II Fighter Pilot, chronicles the events my family | | | | will make these statements randomly using a |
| experienced when my then two-year old son James | | | | matter-of-fact tone, and more often than not, there will |
| began experiencing a past life memory. I remember | | | | be something that triggers the statement. Your child |
| the frustration I felt at the time as I tried to research | | | | may or may not be open to discussing the comment |
| what it was my son was experiencing, and how to | | | | once it's made, but remaining calm and keeping the |
| help him. Most of the books I read about reincarnation | | | | tone conversational will go a long way towards getting |
| were dry and clinical, and offered me little assistance in | | | | your child engaged in conversation with you. |
| dealing with my son. Fortunately, I was given Carol | | | | When you ask questions, ask only open-ended |
| Bowman's wonderful book Children's Past Lives, and I | | | | questions that don't provide any information. For |
| finally received the guidance I'd been searching for. | | | | example, your daughter is watching you peel potatoes, |
| Having lived through this experience and hearing from | | | | and suddenly says "Mommy, when I lived before, I was |
| countless parents whose children have similar stories, I | | | | a boy and we used to grow potatoes on a farm." Say |
| believe that Past Life Memory in children is a fairly | | | | "That's interesting! Where was your potato farm?" |
| common occurrence. Many parents, unaware of the | | | | rather than "Was your potato farm in Idaho or in |
| issue of Past Life Memory, may attribute their child's | | | | Ireland?" That way you can be certain your child is |
| fears or comments to ordinary factors or an | | | | coming up with the details themselves, and isn't just |
| over-active imagination. While in many instances that | | | | repeating what you said. |
| may be true, knowing what signs and behaviors to | | | | Unfortunately, very little is known about the |
| look for is crucial in evaluating your own child's situation | | | | phenomenon of past life memory in children, but if |
| and helping them deal with this little-known | | | | parents keep an open mind, listen to their children, and |
| phenomenon. | | | | start chronicling these events as they occur, we may |
| If you're reading this, chances are you suspect your | | | | soon have a much broader understanding about the |
| child may be experiencing a Past Life Memory and are | | | | eternal journey of the human spirit. |
| looking for guidance. I've compiled the following list of | | | | |