My son is, how to put it, odd?!

[albertawest]

Hello,
My 16-year-old is a lovely boy, sweet, quiet, mature, easy to get along with. He has always been a bit eccentric, not exactly a hit with his schoolmates/girls etc. I was raised in an incredibly conformist "normal" environment, so dealing with this has been difficult: my son was very close to my grandfather (his great-grandfather), who was the "odd man out" in my family. Claimed he was psychic and had medium abilities, things like that. I've been noticing my son asking me how I am doing so he can go tell my grandfather (who's been gone for 2 years) who's apparently been asking. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly things in this world we don't understand, but I'm a little stunned. I've also noticed my son sort of "picking up" on my thoughts. For example, I was thinking of my sister yesterday and my son walks into the room and says, out of the blue, "When are we seeing Auntie?"
Odd things like that have been happening, and I'm wondering if my son might have gotten any "receptive" genes that my grandfather might have had. Don't know if he's making it up or it's actually happening? Any tips on how to deal with this??!
Thank you so much.

I've got no experience whatsoever in this, but as a parent and a very empathic person, I would advise you to encourage and support him and do your very best not to treat him like he's weird for what he is experiencing. I'm not sure if I believe in mediums (though I would very much like to) but if it was my son, I would want to support him as much as possible so he doesn't feel odder than it seems he already might.

I’d knock it on the head. Tell him he can’t possibly communicate with the dead, and do nt mistake coincidence or empathy for psychic ability

Don’t make a fuss about it; just tell him how you are when he asks, as though it’s the most normal thing in the world. I’d say don’t be drawn into discussing why he’s asking though- keep it light and breezy and see whether it continues, or tails off.

Sounds interesting, I wouldn't encourage him so much that he will find it even harder to make friends and interact socially, but maybe visit a spiritualist church with him? I used to go to one with my dad in my late teens and i found it very insightful and a good place to express any spiritual feelings/questions that i had. Most people have one fairly locally and they're very welcoming

Neither encourage or discourage! Let him find his way.

Don't introduce him to spiritualism, as that will put his experiences into a framework which may not be accurate.

He could be very intuitive, empathic or imaginative- don't interpret what he experiences for him.

Recommend this book

Why My Mother Didn't Want Me To Be Psychic: The Intelligent Guide to the Sixth Sense https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1848500637/ref=cmswwrcppapi_7sj0BbX7BDBZC

As the grand daughter of a woman who used to openly talk to the dead in front of me I would say try not to make a big deal of it. We just accepted it. It used to frighten me a bit but because my parents and aunts just reacted normally to it, I soon got over it.
It could just be the case that the chats he has are comforting and he does know that he isn't really talking to him.

He could be incredibly intuitive...maybe even psychic like his great granddad. See where this goes! Could be interesting.