Earliest clear childhood memories

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ack said:
Interesting topic. It’s true that many childhood “memories” are actually false. People remember stories told by their parents and confuse them for actual memories.
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Yep, that’s why I’m not certain of anything before my third birthday party. I seem to “remember” the tornado that took out our garage when I was two, or the Mount St. Helens eruption that same year, but more likely I was told many times about the garage (and it was rebuilt after my third birthday), and we did have a lot more tornadoes when I was little. And the St. Helens thing was probably a first anniversary post-eruption news story.

Oddly enough, I don’t remember the actual birthday party at all. I remember going through my mom’s cake decorating books, and going with my dad to the Towne Club warehouse to choose the soda pop flavors, and even dancing around my mom’s ironing board as she got my party dress ready, but not the party itself. It’s too bad; my grandparents and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who had been born at that time were there. I’m sure it was awesome. The photos are great.
 
paradoxy said:
My FIL remembers details of a nasty fight between his parents when he was a year old or so. He was the only one there and when he mentioned it to them later, it turned out it was real, and his parents had never told him about THAT. His father kept saying “You CAN’T remember that. You were a baby”, but couldn’t come up with a rational explanation.
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And what everyone should learn from this is: “never argue in front of your kids, no matter how young they are”.

Gearoidin
 
Mine was when I was 3 1/2 (or so). We lived on the ground level and my grandparents lived on the second (friend rented the third)floor. We moved before I was 4 because I remember going to preschool.

My grandmother wanted me to watch a movie but my mom thought I’d fall asleep. Well, I don’t remember what the movie title was (it was 1968 or 1969, it may have been around Easter) but it was about Jesus’ life and Passion. I remember Him climbing rocks and being crucified. I also remember both my grandparents asleep at the end and I had watched the whole thing! Years later when we would drive on highways where there were rocks I used to think, “those are rocks like Jesus climbed.”

I also remember getting my cat right before we moved to the “country”. Not nearly as cool a story as the other one though 😉 .
 
Has anyone else noticed that a lot of early memories seem to be of odd stuff? For example, I don’t remember my first day of kindergarten, nor my first day at the new kindergarten after we moved. I do, however, remember being dared to lick the back of the schoolbus seat in front of me (and doing it), and Autumn B. throwing up all over the work table during morning art time. Couldn’t tell you a thing about my first day of first grade, but I remember that most of the other little girls in the class had gone to kindergarten together at a different school, had all gone to Megan W.'s summer birthday party, and thus all had the same super-cool erasers. And I don’t remember the dance class I took when I was four, but I remember that in the winter, there were foil pans in the vestibule where we were supposed to put our wet boots. :rolleyes:

Thankfully, I do still remember being up north at my grandparents’ cabin, and the summer that I was 4, being taken outside late on a chilly night so my grandpa could show me the Northern lights.
 
But is this true? Children learn conflict-resolution skills from their parents. Sometimes, when there’s a disagreement, arguing is better than avoiding all conflict. But, if the child thinks that normal people never, ever argue, what will happen when the child disagrees with others later in life?

Parents should never FIGHT in front of their kids.
Gearoidin said:
And what everyone should learn from this is: “never argue in front of your kids, no matter how young they are”.

Gearoidin
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ack said:
But is this true? Children learn conflict-resolution skills from their parents. Sometimes, when there’s a disagreement, arguing is better than avoiding all conflict. But, if the child thinks that normal people never, ever argue, what will happen when the child disagrees with others later in life?
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I’m married to a man who never saw his parents disagree. It makes things rather difficult at times. I agree that parents should not fight outright in front of their children, but there’s no reason to hide every argument behind closed doors. It’s not healthy and it doesn’t teach the kids appropriate conflict-resolution skills.
 
What I think is my earliest memory was being pulled in an old wooden wagon by my parents as we took what I know now was a several mile walk to my grandparents. Details are hazy but I clearly remember warm comfortable weather, bright blue skies and a black railroad bridge which we had to walk under. I had to have been about three or so.
 
SeekerJen said:
Has anyone else noticed that a lot of early memories seem to be of odd stuff?
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Yes, I’ve thought that about my own memories. It makes me wonder why those particular memories. There must just have been some fluke brain pathways that formed for them which makes them stand out.

I know that there are some far more interesting stories my parents have told me about myself that I can’t recall in the slightest even though they are more recent.
 
i have quite a few memories from around the age of 1.

i remember being in my crib, looking up at who i’d know later as my uncle and aunt… i remember the sound of music in the backround, the lamp on behind my crib… i couldn’t sit up yet so i had to be 6 months or so. but i can remember the scene clear as day.

i remember sitting on my moms lap eating toast at age 1, watching johnny carson.

i have dozens of quick memories from those times. scenes, sounds, movements.
 
Another memory is of being in a stroller. When we lived in NY my parents only had one car, my mom often used to walk to go shopping. One afternoon I’m pretty sure we (mean me, my mom and my sister) were going shopping. It must have right after my sister got out of school because she was wearing her catholic school uniform. I remember seeing a low brick wall with a black wrought iron fence that had the fancy pointed tops as I got pushed along and brick highrise apartments. Nearly every time we’d hit a bump or go over a curb the back would go out and I’d flop backward. I remember feeling very annoyed about this. When I brought this memory up to my mom she said “Yeah you’re dad thought it was funny to sit on your stroller one day and he broke it so the back would give out alot.”

It is funny how these memories are odd and pretty much insignificant and yet they stand out.
 
Another memory from right before we moved is of my parents showing the house (three family house) to a prospective buyer. After my grandmother died my parents rented the lower floor to an Indian gentleman. I remember my dad showing his place, he must not have been home. As my dad was showing them around he opened a closet and there was a very tall (in my eyes being 4) gold hindu god statue. I thought it was scary and I asked what it was. My dad said it was part of indian religion and it was who he prayed to. I remember how odd I thought that was and how the statue gave me a creepy feeling.
 
The earliest very clear memories I have are from when I was from between 18 months and 2 years old. I remember my mom getting my older sister and I up to eat breakfast with my dad. It was still dark outside. My dad worked long hours, especially during the summer, and Mom thought we should eat one meal together everyday, so we got up for a cooked breakfast with Dad before he left. I also remember my Dad making popcorn in the electric skillet at the kitchen table in the same house. He would lift the lid off the skillet and let the corn pop out all over the table… My sister and I thought this was so funny. I also remember going down the road with my mom and sister to get fresh eggs from the egg man and getting milk from another farm and my mom skimming cream and heating the milk.

As an adult I took a class where we were told that a good sign of a happy childhood was being able to remember and draw the floor plans of the houses you lived in, the further back the better. The above house is the first house I can draw. It was the 4th house I lived it. I have vague memories of houses 1,2,3…(#3 was actually
a small travel trailer w/o a br that we lived in one summer…about 15 feet long…mom,dad, sis, me and 2 big dogs…cozy!) My father was a federal employee and in the 50’s they moved families alot. I lived in 11 different houses before I graduated from High School.

Happy memories!!!
 
Wow! I’m amazed that so many people have memories of when they were infants/toddlers. I don’t think I remember anything before 3 - and more likely 4 years old. And even then, my memories are sort of foggy and I’m not sure what age I am because I don’t have reference points in time.

I have a TERRIBLE memory as an adult. Of course I remember events and timelines now, but I’m always forgetting details – even things that I heard just the day before. Hmmm…🤷
 
I have a memory of myself at my 2nd birthday party. I had a paper cup full of “hot” chocolate (wasn’t really hot) with a marshmallow in it. I kept trying to push the marshmallow down into the liquid, but it wouldn’t stay down. I was fascinated by that. As for my first day in kindergarten–I was four years old (they let you start earlier in those days). I was alright with starting school: my first cousin was in class with me, but one boy was brought in literally kicking and screaming. Made for a memorable moment.
 
I remember being 1 and1/2 on my second Christmas (I didnt know it was Christmas at the time), and I climbed up the side of my crib, toppled over and fell 3 feet or so, and it didnt hurt. My parents came in and were amazed that I was able to breach the confines of my crib, then they put a Santa Claus hat on my head. This was one of my first memories.
 
My earliest memory turns out to be my 1st b-day. I described it to my mother and she told me when it was. I was seated low in my paternal gma’s kitchen doorway. I remember eating chocolate cake with chocolate icing off some kind of silver “plate” which Mom said was the snap on tray on my stroller. I remember having no shirt on and just smashing the cake into my mouth and smearing it all over my body. I still love this type of cake better than any other food.

When the memory came up I was actually an adult. I thought that I had just had some kind of freaky dream, but my mother laughed and said that it was my first b-day and my gma went overboard. Mom said that she was told to let me have my fun so there was cake everywhere including in my hair and down in my diaper. They had stripped me down to save my clothing before giving me the cake.

Before this memory had returned, the earliest thing that I could remember was playing outside at a little picnic table with a neighbor girl when I was about 2 and living in Michigan.

I’ve heard people say that they cannot remember anything before starting school, but I remember all kinds of things starting around age 2 1/2 to 3 when I learned to read.
 
My earliest childhood memories are of a trip my family took to Omaha when I had just turned two. I remember being in the plane, and I remember a dream I had while we were there.

Gertie
 
My earliest memories are when I was around the age of 2…when it was hot outside in the summer, my mom would cool me off by giving me a quick dip in cool water in the sink. She would give me stuff from the kitchen drawers to play with (small measuring cups, etc) and I remember filling up the cups with water and transferring the water from one vessel to the other and repeating this over and over and over and over and over…

How easily amused children are! 😃
 
I remember moving into a new house and three of us girls on the block had gotten into grownup’s clothes…all three of us in the same dress. I remember falling on top of eachother and scraping my knee. I remember my mom looking down on us on the sidewalk and having a puzzled look on her face trying to figure out how we had decided to get into the same dress!
 
I had minor surgery when I was three. I remember being infuriated that I was put in a crib bed at the hospital. I also remember climbing out of the bed and walking down the hallway and getting lost. I reached up and pulled on a nurse’s skirt and asked her to show me where my room was.

That same year both of my parents came down with the flu at the same time and were too sick to take care of me. Two nuns came to the house and spent several days there. I clearly remember one of them in her black habit leaning over me in the bathtub giving me a bath.

I also remember having the bright idea of sucking sand through a straw to see what it tasted like.😃
 
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