Sensitive 6 y/o; tears over the fall of Rome

[JABarney]

I am looking for other parents who have been given a sensitive child to raise. My ds6 appears to feel things more intensely than the rest of the family and even decided to become a vegetarian shortly before turning 5, because he believes it is wrong to kill animals for any reason.

Well, we have been finishing up with SOTW1 and there were lots of tears with the death of Julius Caesar... "he was my favorite character in history, and he was killed by his FRIENDS!" Well you can imagine the tension building up inside me as we approached the fall of Rome, and yup, more tears. I make sure to allow him lots of space to feel his feelings and let him ask questions. I tell myself that perhaps one day, those deep feelings and motivations could perhaps lead him into a career where he is doing a lot of good in the world. (he told us last week that he wants to be a trash collector when he grows up so that the earth will be a clean place) Mind you, we are not vegetarians or strong environmentalists. This sort of thing just resides inside of him and I am looking for other stories of similar dc. Thanks!

[Kim in Appalachia]

not because he is very sensitive as your son is, but because he just got the Roman playmobile set and was devastated to learn Rome was no longer in power.:) He was also upset because Caesar was killed. This may not help you ds, but I told my son that everyone alive then, even all of the killers, are now dead. I told him that everyone eventually dies and that every kingdom falls. He thought about it for awhile and then was ok with it.

[elegantlion]

My ds 11 is pretty sensitive about things. He has toy guns, plays "war" with his friends, but he's a softie, especially about animals. We did CW Aesop this year and in some of the models something happens to an animal. He changed the ending of every story and no animals were harmed during our time with Aesop.

[King Alfred Academy]

Yep...I've got a really sensitive one too (ds8). His fish died a few weeks ago and this was the first time he has had any experience with death of a loved one. Let me tell you, that was not a fun week. He is frequently coming to me in tears because of things he reads...he is currently working through the Redwall series. We have to be extra careful with the things we let him watch, read or hear.

 

I have found the book "Raising Your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurchinka great for helping not only understand his "more" sensitivity, but how to help him with it. "It's a guide for parents whose child is MORE intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, and energetic." It is a great read! :001_smile:

[Nestof3]

I would say Nathan is pretty sensitive. We both cried through Mountain Born. He cannot watch the Liberty's Kids episode with the tarring and feathering, though I cannot imagine it would be graphic. He cried one day because the Wizard of Oz stories would never be true. He may not be sensitive to the extent that your son is, but I can relate. I had him listen to a DK version of A Christmas Carol and he was scared to death. I also made a mistake and gave him A Bridge to Terabithia to listen to -- he was bawling.

 

Ben is not sensitive with books and such, but if he sees me sad or cry, he looks away because he starts to cry. He is very protective of others and gets upset if someone hurts the feelings of someone he loves. He cries when I sing him songs about the day he was born or when I am otherwise very showering with love toward him.

 

Okay, I cried through A Triumph for Falvius! I cry while reading Story of the World sometimes. I don't know what I was like when I was Nathan's age -- I don't have a good memory of my childhood.

[Ferdie]

I edited several things out of SOTW 1. I read the chapter before hand and then included the things I thought were appropriate during our history time. Also, we have enjoyed listening to the SOTW CD's during car rides, but I intentional didn't buy year 1 because some of the topics were too intense for my kids.

 

My oldest loves science, but until middle school was unable to handle looking at inside diagrams of the human body. LOL! When he was in 2nd grade we started on the cutest science project where you outline the child's body on butcher paper. Then the child colors and adds their internal organs as you learn about them. This project stressed him out so much we had to abandon our study of the human body. I guess that is the blessing of hs - that you can fine tune lesson plans to suit the child.

[Karen sn]

He cries when I sing him songs about the day he was born......

 

That is beautiful.

I just sang a song last night to my baby about the day he was born.

[Tree House Academy]

Oh Oh, Me Me...I have one of those. Mine is 5.5. As an example, this is the child who cried when ET went back home. Oh, and yesterday, I was singing a song in the car ("Love Me" By Colin Raye) and my older son said, "mom...look at brother!" My 5 year old was BAWLING. Silently, but bawling. When I asked him what as wrong, he told me that the song I was singing was sad because at the end, the grandma dies and he would be SO SAD if his grandma died.

 

Of course, I love my little tender hearted thing...he is just like his daddy! And about the mirror opposite of my older son! LOL

[Laura Corin]

Hobbes cried over the death of Julius Caesar; Calvin was in tears because the 'wrong' side won the War of Troy.

 

Laura

[JABarney]

Thanks for sharing.... I have enjoyed reading others experiences!