Do you remember being a child?

[Eatyourbanana]

I have absolutely no memories until the age of about 9 or 10. Even memories I have of that age are few and far between.

My nan always tells me stories of ‘when I was 3 my mum blah blah...’ she thinks there’s something wrong with me I don’t remember anything?!

YABU - I have memories from a young age 3,4,5...

YANBU - I cant remember much, if anything from childhood.

Not really an AIBU, but generally intrigued.

I have a few memories from between 2 & 3, things like a fall that scared me, my sister being born when I was 2 1/2, a house move, from 3 onwards there’s a lot more ordinary ones mixed in with the big ones, sort of more and more the older I got...

My sister though, doesn’t remember much at all until about 9 or 10.

“But then, the things I do remember from being older are mostly bad things, so surely I would remember bad things from younger childhood too?”

Some of my earlyish memories were fairly traumatic events, my sister being younger doesn’t remember any of them and compared to me had a more stable childhood - she missed the worst things that went on between our parents or was too young to be aware of some and some events she wasn’t present for.

So with us it’s definitely not that she’s not remembering things because they were bad memories... I remember lots of things I wish I didn’t tbh.

I remember my nursery too! There were two hobby horses, a white one which was awesome and a black one that was meh. I'd rush to get that white hobby horse every playtime. I felt like a princess on that hobby horse. I got carried away and because I was an epic princess I could do anything, so I kicked the football while on the hobby horse. Apparently I hurt another kid, but I was so in the moment I didn't notice. They took the hobby horse off me and I sulked behind the bushes at the edge of the garden. I remember so much from that nursery, it was amazing.

I remember loads from very early on.

I can even remember being in a nappy and my mum changing my nappy. It was a reusable with a rubber over cover, my mum would play a game tickling my feet while she did it. I also remember potty training, only small flashes but they are very clear.

I was out of nappies by 2.5 so quite early memories.

I can remember being in a cot. Being in a stroller and my rain cover. I remember colours of things, how I felt, what people said. I can describe things in great detail.

I remember starting nursery, from nursery onwards I have very, very clear memories of most things.

My dad has at times refused to believe that I can remember things so early on, but there are things I couldn't possibly know or describe otherwise.

My dh is at times stunned at the things I can remember.

Honestly, I just don't have a good visual memory. Things I remember are like facts I've chosen to remember - I know I did them, but I can't "remember" it happening. Anything more than about 3 days ago is just facts, not memories. 🤔

I have 2 memories of lying in my cot and a memory of having my nappy changed! My mum thinks they're false memories but she's full of shit!
I have dozens of memories fro.three onwards. Really random things.
Ask me what I did last week however... no idea!

I remember being in a cot, and a pushchair, but also I can describe a caravan we stopped livingin at 12 months. No photos were taken of it, we didn't revisit it, but my parents were amazed I could describe it. Also I remember vividly a Christmas ar 2 years 7 months. I don't believe this is normal, though.

I can remember being in a pushchair so around 2 or 3

Jonsnow it's so frustrating when people say things are false memories.

Lots of people, inc my DH have very few memories before 8 - 10. It's not that uncommon although it does seem a bit strange to me as I remember so much.

Dh doesn't remember much either.

I have read that women have earlier memories, don't know if that's true.

I can remember flashes of things from about 1, I remember things that happened in each year of primary school. Things that happened in the holidays and outside school I can remember but probably couldn't accurately pinpoint my age when they happened, so I remember my first Chinese food say but not how old I was.

I can see things in my memory very clearly.

I have one very specific but brief memory at nursery and a few bits of my first day at school.

I spent a week somewhere different when I was 6 and have such clear vivid memories of all the people I met, the toys, conversations and jokes that were told, much better than say my memory of a week’s holiday earlier this year.

I have often wondered if females remember childhood more than males, as my DH barely remembers primary school.

I didn’t meet new people or go to new places very often when at primary school so I think I remember anything that stood out. My kids have amazing experiences every week and will probably not remember any of them, as I barely can either with everything that goes on.

Interested in whether those of you with super early memories from 2-3 still have a good memory for the near-present as well?

I was talking about favourite toys as a child with my mum and said I remembered having a corrugated pink plastic tube that made sound when I swung it round. I remembered playing with it in my pushchair and I remember my mum as she looked then pushing me up a hill with a metal railing on the left.

Mum was shocked because it was our holiday to the Isle of Wight and I must have been about 2 1/2 years old. Clearly a good buy on her part for me to remember it!

I did have a good early childhood, but I know I've blocked a lot of things out from primary and high school where I was bullied.

I have a very poor memory both for childhood and now. I remember fleeting moments. Also find it hard to tell where a family anecdote may begin and if I actually remember it.

I remember a few things at playgroup, my grandad who died around my third birthday and my brother being born when I was 3. Oh and an incident on holiday. So I guess I remember things from age 2/3.

I also remember conversations from my childhood, friends’ birthdays from school... In my forties now and like a pp said, I forget things from last week!

I remember my aunty squatting in front of me and trying to get me to say a word. I can remember thinking "I'm sure I could say it if I tried, but I'm not going to, just in case" and practising the word when I was in bed. My mum and aunties said I was talking in sentences by the time my brother was born, when I was 17 months old, so I think I must have been about 17-18 months old. I remember quite a lot from then.

I only remember about three or four prominent occurrences from pretty much the whole of my childhood, up till about mid teens, the rest is made up from looking at photos.

I remember quite a lot about my childhood, but then very little from my time at college - so from 16-18. I have mixed memories of uni - don’t remember much about being at uni itself but remember lots about my work/friends at that time.

Saying that, weirdly I think I probably remember more now than I did pre-DC. I think them growing up had reminded me of specific things that I went through, mostly really mundane things like my grandma teaching me phonics.

I remember from my mum being pregnant with my brother when I was four. I can still picture her with the bump. Lots of quite clear memories from that point on.

Don’t remember day to day stuff particularly, but things that were significant to me do stand out.

A trip to the zoo with my dad. First time I saw elephants. I remember having a picnic, eating an egg sandwich and then catching sight of an elephant and dropping the sandwich.
Going to the hospital to meet my new sister. I was 3 for both of these.
And I remember being terrified of my mum when she put a face mask on. Around 2 or 3 years old. Wouldn’t believe it was my mum under that white and was beside myself with fear.

I can remember lots, from being in a buggy, and climbing out of my cot onwards.

My most vivid early memory is being able to 'fly'.

I was jumping off a stage that was at the back of the hall where my pre-nursery playgroup was (so I would have been about two). It probably wasn't very high, but I clearly remember the sensation of hovering in the air for a few seconds before I landed. I kept walking up the two steps and doing it over and over. When my mum came up to me to say it was home time, I told her I could fly and made her watch me. The first time it didn't work but the second time, I felt myself 'hovering' again.

She said 'gosh!' and we went home.

I did it from the stairs a few times as well.

I've read about this since and vivid childhood memories of flying is a 'thing'.

Other than that, lots of memories but with no flow or chronology to them.

@DotForShort

Vividly. My first memories are from the place we lived the year I turned 3. We moved away when I was 3 and a half, so I can date those memories precisely. I remember my childhood after that very clearly as well. It may help that we moved around a lot in my early years, including overseas. So I had frequent new impressions that may have been more memorable than a more settled existence might have been.

Yes, I moved around every few years as a child, too. My first home was in a small block of flats which we left when I was 3 or 4. I liked sitting in the stairwell, looking out of the vented windows. I remember having to stay out of the kitchen when new floor tiles were being put down. I have a memory that may or may not be accurate of sitting in my high chair with a bowl of porridge with horrible skin on. I have a lot of memories of sitting with food I hated, tbh!