Do you remember much of your childhood?

[Spencer2]

I only ask because… I really don’t!

I didn’t have a bad upbringing, in fact I do just remember it being lovely and I was so content. We weren’t well off but we could afford an annual holiday abroad and I just loved being at home playing and watching films. I loved feeling content, warm and in my safe place which was always my childhood home. Of course I remember random things and events as we do…. But I mean a handful at most. I really don’t remember much of me and my brother growing up in our home, I don’t remember much of the yearly holidays abroad. It’s really sad and these are years without any memories I will never be able to look back on or play back in my head.

I’m just curious to know.. am I the only one? I struggle to be honest to remember much from my teen years either, although I do remember a lot more than childhood years.

For the record.. i’m 27.

I have children now and sometimes I look at them and I think ‘I hope you remember this moment’ or ‘I hope you don’t forget all of this’.

I have a terrible memory, I remember hardly anything about childhood. Very little about school. My sister remembers it all.

I’m over 60 and can remember huge detail, such as the colours of walls, the exact layout of each house I lived in, furniture, presents I was given, food that was cooked, and so on. I think I was hyper vigilant through my childhood as I never knew what would happen next.

I remember loads, the games we used to play, the places we went - I have quite a tactile memory so I have strong memories of things like the tarmac on the road melting when it was too hot, or the feel of a stone in the concrete path in our garden thatI used to rub with my fingers and it felt smooth and shiny.
I did read a lot though from a very early age and there are some memories that I am not sure are mine or from books that I read. I did use to copy quite a lot of the things I read in books, so they could be both. I have this memory of playing in the road outside the house and an neighbour came and said did we want to go the hay making and we went to the field nearby and travelled in a trailer filled with hay. That sounds completely made up, as we lived on a suburban council estate, but my mum says it did happen.

I hardly remember anything. Thought that was normal, until this post!

I have a lot of memories of childhood, but mostly quite fuzzy rather than vivid. Overall my personal memory is quite poor though. I had a lovely childhood and it makes me sad I can't remember a lot of it. Df is dead and dm has dementia and can't tell me much, so I feel it's lost to me which is so sad. My mum's friend gave us copies of loads of letters mum had sent her which detail my sisters baby and toddler years really well, but they stopped just before I was born.

I try to take lots of photos and write things down so my dc have things to look back on. I hope they remember some good stuff! I think we tend to remember the bits which stand out - good and bad - rather than the everyday. For example, I remember a family holiday and my main memory is falling over and grazing my knees, and a massive thunderstorm, but there must have been lots of good bits in between as all the photos look lovely! Makes me wonder what the dc will remember of their lives - the lovely day trips out or the argument in the car on the way home?

Yes. We spent a lot of it wandering across the field, past the graveyard, down to the water park, crossing the road on a corner that was a national speed limit area at that time. We used to play in the streams and on the swings. We'd push each other into the water. We'd take our buckets and spades and play on the sand next to the water.

Growing up a bit, we'd catch the bus and go into town or go swimming.

We spent a lot of time as teens having about in each others bedrooms listening to records and tapes and reading Smash Hits.

I can remember sitting in my pram. There was a clip thing on the handle and I used to twiddle it.

I’m early fifties and I remember a lot.

The grandmother clock ticking away
The wallpaper in each room
The carpet
All the bedding and furniture
All our pets, their names and birthdays
My mums sewing cupboard, her little brown suitcase that held material
Our dinner set and cutlery
The biscuit bin
Coffee mugs in bright orange
My cot being sold and put on a trailer and gone down the road when I was two
Ornaments on mums dressing table
Holidays away in the caravan
My Wellington Womble mug
The polyanthus in the garden

Yes, loads.

But I think normal is a very wide range.

I've often worried about having very few childhood memories so it helps to know that I'm not alone. My brother is a few years younger than me and he remembers very specific details of just about EVERYTHING. Or at least he seems to - maybe he just makes shit up and I have no basis on which to disagree 😂

If something really good or really bad happened I remember most of these things. Not that a lot of bad things happened.

Photos help and luckily my Mum took a lot of those.

My younger Brother died young and I get frustrated that I remember more before he died but our younger years not so much so rely on photos.

I do love and hate that one of my best friends remembers more about when we were teenagers/young adults. She tells me then I'm like Oh Yes 😂

I probably have about 10 memories of my childhood. We were poor, my dad was violent alcoholic and we moved a lot. We had 2 uk breaks my entire childhood and my only memory of those are turning up to the chalet and the bed being made of wire mesh, and catching shrimp in the sea.
most of my memories are from Playing out as a child as those were my happy times.

I remember a huge amount. 1st memory was aged 3 on an overnight train journey with my mum. I remember the fold out sink, the bunk coming down, the journey and the final destination. I have multiple memories and would find it sad if I didn't.

No. Only significant bits.

Very few photos if poor in 70/80s

Can remember very clearly walking down a road in Hanover at 18 months, and the sheer joy of the splat splat noise of my feet on the tarmac.
I can also remember going into grandpa's bedroom at 6 in the morning, seeing the top of his head under the eiderdown knowing with absolute certainty I was safe, loved and would get a snuggle. Poor sod, he was 80, prostate cancer and doing 6 days a week as a locum pharmacist.
Going to church at 3 for Matins just after he died for the first time, and hearing the 3 manual organ. I fell deeply in love with its voice, and it's the one I measure all other organs against. Had my lessons on it, too.
Cycling on my tricycle with a boot like a bread bin, wearing red pedal pushers, with red and white striped cuffs, bursting with pride - it was nearly half a mile from home and I was so proud going along with my father.

Lots of other memories, sadly of abuse

My childhood was happy, but I don't remember much at all. I always think about this when I read autobiographies with lots of details about the author's early years. I just think "how do they know all this?".

I have an excellent memory that goes back to being very young a few baby memories too...its a blessing and a curse

I am very lucky after reading some of these stories. I remember being in my pram! My sister has no memories pre 10 yrs old though- we had a lovely family and were brought up together - less than a year between us in age so it wasn't the case I had it good and she came along yrs later- same mum and dad both diamonds!
We moved around a lot because of dad's job but always had a happy settled home, enough to eat and enough clothing etc - all very calm.
Were not rich- remember having a conversation with dad and the mortgage rate was 15% in the 80's -so 2/3rds of his salary was paying that. I was 26 and about to buy my own house at that point so opted for a 6.5% fix for 5 yrs in late 90's,
My grandparents were brilliant- I'm quite old so in the mid 1970's my Grandma taught me to crochet/knit/sew and cook a good Sunday dinner! I was under 10 as well. Grandma died 1993 bless her Would love her to see how everything has panned out.

I have very vivid memories not just of events but I remember the smells, the layout of rooms, conversations I had etc. My older sister remembers nothing, even now she would ask me things. I would not say I have a great memory now though

I have vivid memories from about age 4 onwards. I can remember people, locations, events, the weather… I can recall exactly how I felt, smells, conversations, realisations, tastes, textures. Historical / news events. I’ve never thought this was unusual?

No I don't remember anything from childhood. I only remember a couple of tiny snippets

I remember loads of stuff, but apparently I do have an annoyingly good memory, to quote my mother.

I've noticed a recurring theme throughout this thread,in that older posters (60 +) remember lots of details whereas younger ones don't. Very strange!