Growing up "paranormal"

Dani's response to my last post got me wondering....how SHOULD parents respond when a child comes to them and says they have seen or experienced someting? In retrospect I really can't blame mine for responding the way they did when they thought that the bowels of hell had opened up in the floor in my room. Makes for bad re-sale value. Anyway....what would I have done? I can't really say. But I believe that children do have a natural affinity towards all things spiritual. As we grow older we develop blinders to such things and I think that when our children tell some parents about their imaginary friends it shakes their reality (see my previous blog). I am by no means a child psychologist or a physician (so that's my offical disclaimer y'all.), but I would probably respond differently if my little one came to me and said "I just saw Grandpa" and proceeded to describe him perfectly as opposed to "Mommy.....there is a devil dog in my room with glowing red eyes, foaming lips and he is telling me to do baaaaad things". Some things warrant a physical and psychological evaluation. The sleep specialist in me knows that there are sleeping disorders children experience that can explain some things. I think I might take a little for granted that in OUR home, interacting with the spirit world is about as common as watching TV. "Mom....I just saw a shadow figure pass by my door." Response? "Sweet!! What did it look like?? Grab the K2!!" One of our favorite hobbies is to explore old graveyards for crying out loud. My kids will grow up with an understanding of spirit energies and know that, in general, they are nothing to fear. They are all around us, much like the air we breathe. I think it will help them develop into well-rounded spiritual adults, whatever path they decide to take. They know we don't think their insane and we aren't going to cart them off in straight-jackets for telling us sometihng. So....I think we are pretty much the coolest parents on earth. Oh....a little side-note. When I was talking to my step-mother about the experience in Virginia years later she responded with "Oh, yeah. Ummmmm.....well I knew they were there all along. I believe in ghosts." Enter in major urge to b****slap her.