HS knowledge

HSK?
Higly Sensitive Kids are all over the world and everybody knows a couple, but most people don't even realize it. The term is still pretty unknown. Just like Elaine Aron, who introduced the term, I'm not fond of labelling, bur it IS a good tool to use: one can start to find solutions, give others an idea and lead them in an attempt of making things clear

Hypersensitive
Our eldest son is is now 9 years old and a very Highly Sensitive child - and sometimes I'd even dare te say he's "hypersensitive", which I use to put an emphasis on the fact that he is VERY sensitive in many ways!
There are only very few people that really "get" what I mean when I talk about it. There are also many ways of being an HSP (= Highly Sensitive Person) and there are moments things are easier and then again there are moments that we realize the entire being of an HSP is being tickled again. Sometimes one could think our son is a "normal" child, but when you look closer, you get to see the difference and certainly when he has his peek-weeks. Lately I do see there is more emphasis on his Sensitive characteristics again.

Thanx Elaine!
Exactly like Elaine Aron said in her book: "I do not like to label children", but ... giving it a name and being able to present her book to people did help me and loads of others. I have recommended the book to several people and my son now has a nice teacher was very willing to read it: she had not yet heard about HS - which proves in my opinion that people still don't know enough about it - and I am very happy she was understanding and she really learned from this. So in a way, we are also helping others with HS kids. The book is a real help - for ourselves and to make it easier to talke about this the topic - so I'd really like to say: thank you Elaine!!

Different life
We live differently than most people around us and to me it is so natural to go along in many things, but it is not always easy. When I buy him new clothes there are so many things I must keep in mind.
Eating out, sleeping elsewhere: it is not obvious.
It somehow became a way of living and we are understanding and HSPs ourselves - but not as extreme as our son. We suspect our younger son to be HS as well, but it shows in different ways.

Challenge
It is a real challenge to be the mother of a child that is so sensitive - and here I must add that our eldest son also has a high IQ and sees colors differently (but he does NOT want to be called "colorblind" as that is NOT the same) and we really had a long way of searching till last year: in a couple of weeks all the above was finally confirmed. We knew this al along but still it was both a relief and a burden to get it confirmed.

Lack of understanding
We still get comments from ignorant people that think one should be firmer to raise children in a way that they learn from the very beginning to be tough and so on ... society sometimes makes me sick. There is still so much work to get people to understand that there are other and better ways than pushing kids. The "normal" way of living is not always better and I think many people will learn in due time, but I hope (not to many) children will have to suffer till then. It's still a struggle ... to get people to open their eyes, make them understand and most of all: make them willing to act according to it. We do NOT spoil our children by making their lives better, more bearable and filled with happiness. We make them stronger this way and they will hopefully grow up to be wonderful adults, just as they now are fantastic children - if one just wants to open the eyes, there is so much beauty to be seen in them.

Typical details
All the tiny things I do to make my kids lives easier are not in vain. Sometimes I'm sick and tired of it, but as I understand very well how terrible they feel when their clothes make them feel completely tortured and when they are being pushed to do things ... and when I see their happiness when we do mind these little details: my choice is easily made.

More
There is so much more I could say about the topic and there are zillions of examples to give, but I really recommend the book by Elaine Aron and if you want some good online info (in Dutch) check this website.