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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Does your child have a very very very good memory? (odd)

43 replies

oliveoil · 31/10/2006 12:57

dd1 was 4 last week and we had her party at a play area. Got 8 presents all wrapped up in the usual array of pink/barbie/sparkle. They were handed over and went straight in a bin liner.

We got home and she knew who bought what as I got them all out of the binbag. And then the next day looked at her cards and knew who bought them from the cover.

Got a ELC carriage for her birthday, and said that one of her magazines had a pic in it that looked the same. Found the magazine (from the summer) and went straight to the page where there was a miniscule pic of a pink carriage.

dh works in the motor trade, had a car parked on the drive. Changed the licence plates when she was at playgroup to trade plates and she noticed when she got back. It was the same car, the ONLY thing different was that the letters and numbers had changed!!

I could go on, she does this every day, comes up with something that only a computer should remember.

Is this odd do you think?

OP posts:

Original poster

oliveoil · 31/10/2006 13:20

She can spell as well and lines up the magnets on the fridge in colour and letter order. Wobetide anyone who dares to get the milk and moves any.

OP posts:

Bozza · 31/10/2006 13:21

Oh yes bloodysideup definitely interest is a big factor. DS knew the names of loads of types of cars long before he knew letters/numbers. It was really his party piece. My friends would come and entertain themselves with it.

mascaraohara · 31/10/2006 13:22

my dd (4) is exactly the same, tells me the most bizarre things in the most minute amount of detail. It constantly shocks and amazes me.

hunkermunster · 31/10/2006 13:43

Yes, if they're interested in things it helps. DS1 is v interested in letters and numbers. He loves watching credits on a programme - says "yetters!" (he can't say L yet ). He can tell the time (if it's three, six or twelve o'clock!), read several words, recognise any logo he's ever seen (often ones I've not told him) and knew the alphabet before he was two.

But I'm not teaching him this stuff - he's the one who's sought it out and learnt it, because he is, as say, interested in it. That's why he knows that the water on his bedroom window in the morning is called "condensation" - because he asked me if it was snow, and I told him what it was.

suedonim · 31/10/2006 14:02

Ds1 was a walking gazetter at just over 4yo. We did a lot of travel in the UK and he knew the road numbers and distance of all the journeys we made. That was bizarre as he couldn't read at that point! He also knew all the Kings and Queens of England by the age of 6. He's now 31yo but can still recall the colour of the front door of each of the houses we've lived in (which is quite a few!) and what he had for breakfast on important days like birthdays.

Dd2 has a good brain for connections between things but I'm amazed at how much she's forgotten. I had to be a mummy cat while she was a kitten for months when she was about 4 and now she claims she can't remember it all at!!! That's gratitude for you.

ProfYaffle · 31/10/2006 14:09

I've been telling dd about Xmas, she's 2.5 so this is the first year she'll be really aware of the whole deal. I was talking to her about Xmas trees and she pointed to the corner where the tree was last year and said 'tree there Mummy!'.

I was gobsmacked.

SueW · 31/10/2006 15:14

I also use DD's memory for shopping and tasks I know I will forget.

And she is fab at identifying those odd bits of plastic I find at the back of drawers that I know I shouldn't throw away or one small piece from a jigsaw puzzle, etc.

Greensleeves · 31/10/2006 15:16

I found out the other day that ds1 (4.1) remembered what he had to eat at a fireworks display 2 years ago

It was a sausage roll

Bozza · 31/10/2006 15:23

LOL at the sausage roll.

DS's current thing is road signs. He is probably not far off being able to pass the driving theory test. He is the ultimate back seat driver. "Mummy there is a sharp bend, you need to slow down". "Mummy it is a 40 area, how fast are you going". "Mummy there might be some deer in the road". etc etc in the clear tones of a 5yo.

"DS, how did I manage for the 10 years and 1000s of miles I drove before you were born?"

PretendFiend · 31/10/2006 15:29

IME this is a pre-reading skill (and a good argument for delaying learning to read as long as poss ) - once they can read it seems to rewire their brains so that they see words much more than pictures.

melpomene · 31/10/2006 18:12

Some pretty impressive stories on this thread.

When dd1 was tiny we had wind chimes in our garden. We took them down when she was 20 months old and we didn't refer to them again. About a year later she pointed to the spot where they used to hang and said "We used to have bells there."

She's now 3.5 and she pointed out a 'Henry' vacuum cleaner in a shop today and told me that they had one at her old nursery (which she stopped attending 11 months ago).

She also claims she can remember being inside my tummy. She says she drank milk from a bottle when she was in there.

EliBoo · 31/10/2006 18:15

Ah, fresh young brains with no clutter

dd at 2 remembered a little seaside train from when she was 17 months old, and recently (nearly 3) when I pointed out a toy my aunt had given her a year ago said 'yes, and stickers too'. As for details from CBeebies or Nick Jnr....she has every single one down to the tiniest detail

Very useful when I forget names, too...

threebob · 31/10/2006 18:17

Ds memorised all 35 Thomas little book covers at just 3 with them read to him once. He knows which roads to take to anywhere - even if we have only been a couple of times, and can give a running commentary on where all the other roads go to. He memorises books after one reading and songs after one hearing.

Yet he can't remember he's supposed to wipe his bottom.

I think it's what all our brains are capable of if we don't have to worry about all the other stuff - like washing and ironing and posting a letter and taking the DVDs back to the rental place and popping the school dinner money (why aren't they called school lunches BTW) into a bag.

Children are probably amazed at how we remember these things.

singersgirl · 01/11/2006 09:46

DS1 (now 8) seems to have a poor memory for people (friends we haven't seen for a long time, for instance - he never remembers the children), but has an excellent recall for everything he's ever eaten anywhere, any present he has ever received and what it was wrapped in, and whole chunks of dialogue and passages of books. DS1 can effortlessly remember anything he is interested in, and nothing he's not interested in.

DS2 (now 5) remembers all the birthday cakes he has had back to his second birthday, and where he was sitting etc. Teachers from nursery upwards (including sports teachers) always comment that he is the only one in their class/group who remembers pretty much everything they have been told - eg what they are cooking on Thursday, all the karate moves etc. Still, he can't perform any of the karate moves, which might be more helpful.

KTeepee · 01/11/2006 09:55

I think this memorising of detail is very common at that age - my dd used to be like that and ds1 is now. Sometimes we are going somewhete we haven't been for months and he will say, "Is that the XXX with the blue door?" or something and lo and behold it will have a blue door... and once he saw a toy in a shop and said "XXX has that"" - we had been to their house once about a year before and they hadn't even played with the toy....

I don't think it lasts forever though (unless they truly are gifted !)

ameli · 01/11/2006 10:06

I think everything you have said applies to alot of children, my child is exactly the same. I think we have to encourage them to make the most of it.

arfishymeau · 01/11/2006 11:11

I think she does sound very bright OO. You'll have to keep an eye on her and make sure she stays challenged and socialised. It's quite tough having a very bright child. Off to G&T (both thread and bottle) with you!

threebob · 01/11/2006 17:56

Becoming selective with what we remember is part of normal growing up. The extreme is Kim (the "rain man" guy) who can memorise everything, but cannot dress or feed himself. So losing out amazing recall is actually desirable.

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