Grieving ChildrenWritten by Rexanne Mancini
While it is my belief that death is just one more experience to seek growth and soul development in our current physical forms, losing a loved one is never easy. Our family has experienced its fair share of grief in past few years. We’ve lost my sister-in-law (my daughters’ aunt), a beloved uncle and a cherished pet, to name just a few. I try to reassure my daughters that a loved one who has moved on is safe and happy, however, we still need to grieve and accept inevitable feelings of loss and sadness. Loved ones will be missed. Opportunities to share life and experiences will have been cut short. They know that it’s OK to feel sad and to cry. As soon as possible after initial shock and sadness over losing a cherished one has passed, I try to bring happy memories of person back into our lives. It’s important to remember love and lessons we’ve learned from them with joy in our hearts and with respect for time we’ve had to share our lives in their company. I tell my daughters that they can talk to person who has passed on any time they feel like it. That person will now always be available to listen. We will still feel love for our missed relative or pet and we include departed soul in our prayers until it feels right to let them go. We ask that they are well taken care of and loved as much as we love them. This helps ease their anxiety of unknown and allows them to feel that their loved one is in some way protected from whatever they might imagine exists “out there.”
| | Gifted ChildrenWritten by Rexanne Mancini
There has been much discussion on difficult child. Let’s look at gifted child. Not to imply that gifted children aren't difficult ... as a matter of fact, I hold belief that most difficult children are probably gifted and therein lies a part of their social problem. For clarity, let's refer to gifted child in this article as one who excels at academics and extra curricular activities of an extraordinary nature. My older daughter has a friend, Megan, who is highly gifted ... highly gifted being a step grander than gifted in public school system. In her special class, she has massive amounts of homework, incredibly difficult assignments and a rigorous school schedule, including mandatory extra hours. Her after school activities include piano lessons, singing lessons (she's great!) and any other challenging activity she can persuade her parents to pay for. Megan is an incredible child ... sweet, personable and kindhearted. We rally round her with each new accomplishment. This is a child who clearly shines in her highly gifted classes and is happy to be there. My older daughter is very bright, too. OK, bragging but she really is! ;-) She was pegged by her preschool teachers as destined for gifted groups in elementary school. Well, turns out she was never tested, which, in California, must be done only on request of her teachers. She graduates with honors each year but her social life is much too important to her and she has never shown focus or passion for learning that other gifted and highly gifted children we know have demonstrated.
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