I've received numerous questions from parents new to the term "Indigo children," all hoping for some explanation and insight after hearing that their own children may fit the bill. Over the past couple of decades (and especially in the past 10 years), there has been much written about what seems like a new breed of kids. They are highly sensitive, unusually bright and incredibly energetic.

According to Lee Carroll and Jan Tober, authors of the 1999 book The Indigo Children, these kids display "a new and unusual set of psychological attributes, revealing a pattern of behavior generally undocumented before." These patterns and traits, they wrote, require parents and educators to shift the way they raise, teach and treat children in order to avoid frustration and achieve balance and harmony at home and school. On their web site, they list the following common traits of an Indigo child:

• They come into the world with a feeling of royalty (and often act like it)
• They have a feeling of "deserving to be here," and are surprised when others don't share that.
• Self-worth is not a big issue. They often tell the parents "who they are."
• They have difficulty with absolute authority (authority without explanation or choice).
• They simply will not do certain things; for example, waiting in line is difficult for them.
• They get frustrated with systems that are ritually oriented and don't require creative thought.
• They often see better ways of doing things, both at home and in school, which makes them seem like "system busters" (nonconforming to any system).
• They seem antisocial unless they are with their own kind. If there are no others of like consciousness around them, they often turn inward, feeling like no other human understands them. School is often extremely difficult for them socially.
• They will not respond to "guilt" discipline ("Wait till your father gets home and finds out what you did").
• They are not shy in letting you know what they need.

No wonder traditional parenting methods don't often work with these kids! Spiritually, many say Indigos represent a shift in consciousness and many say they have come into the world in droves to change the way things are done, to call attention to our planet's needs, and to inspire the rest of us to wake up and live in the moment. Now, the first wave of Indigos are teenagers and even young adults, which Tober and Lee discuss in their recent book, The Indigo Children Ten Years Later: What's Happening with the Indigo Teenagers!

Here at MySweetAngelPie.com, I use the term "spirited kids" to encompass not only Indigos, but other subsets of conscious, creative, intuitive kids - you may have heard terms like rainbow kids, crystalline children, or children of the stars. Each group has its own unique but unifying characteristics, as Dr. Meg Blackburn Losey describes in her books (below). She has been a guest on my radio show and is a wonderful advocate for these special, incredible kids - and their parents.

Pick up one of the books mentioned here - whichever one calls to you - and start perusing some of the resources listed. You'll likely find comfort as you recognize your own children in the descriptions, challenges, issues, and joys shared by parents, educators and doctors.

Recommended Reading:




              

Nancy Tappe -All About Indigos
Doreen Virtue - Angel Therapy & Indigo/Crystal/Rainbow Children
The Indigo Children: Ten Years Later overview