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Mental health

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Original poster

Do you remember your birthdays as children? I don't

25 replies

DoubleLife · 01/09/2007 07:51

First birthday I remember is my 18th birthday (which I organised for myself). Nothing before that. Not feeling depressed about it but really sad...

OP posts:

Idreamofdaleks · 01/09/2007 08:34

The cakes and theme parties stuck in my mind and also when I got a kitten!

Idreamofdaleks · 01/09/2007 08:35

can you use hypnosis to bring back your memories?

Cloudhopper · 01/09/2007 08:36

Sorry to hear you are feeling sad.

I don't remember any of my childhood birthdays at all. I must have a really crap memory or something....

Don't tell my parents though.

ThreeGs · 01/09/2007 08:44

All very vague - must be my age . Remember the one with the ice-cream cake but prior to my 18th and pretty much since it is all a blur. Except two recent ones which were dire i.e. ex- didn't bother or got it very badly wrong because he didn't do communication .

MaureenMLove · 01/09/2007 08:50

I remember 2 birthdays, prior to being 18. I don't know how old I was for either of them, but I remember them because I got a bump on the head at both of them! One, my wardrobe door fell off and hit me and the other, I was in the loo and someone pushed the door open with some force and hit me on the head! Its a wonder I've got any memory at all really!

Original poster

DoubleLife · 01/09/2007 11:45

Thanks for your responses. Made me feel less like a freak - I thought I'm the only one who doesn't remember. Actually I don't remember much about my chilhood too. My first memeory is from when I was about 9-10 years old. Wasn't abused or anything, just not very happy chilhood.

Idreamofdaleks, hypnosis is an interesting idea, I'd love to do it but I'm too scared of what it would bring out

OP posts:

Hulababy · 01/09/2007 11:48

I can't remember anything specific TBH. I can remember the odd thing. I don't really have that many very clear memories at all!

littlerach · 01/09/2007 12:07

I actually remember a lot of my birthday parties.
But I don't remember what gifts I received from my parents at all.
The parties range form a Wimpy one - shudder now!! Also in a church hall. And one at home that my mum made loads of effort for and it was great.
My mum always made an amazing cake for us too.

Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.

cornsilk · 01/09/2007 12:10

I don't really remember having parties that clearly till I was in secondary, although I know I did. Have no memory of presents, but I definitely got them. I'm kind of questioning all the fuss I go to with ds's now!

pointydog · 01/09/2007 12:22

I don't remember many, no. The odd snippet here and there.

The one I remember most is the one there are photos of.

I think if you were in a family that didn't take many photos and didn't talk about shared memories much at all, then children remember much less. Was this the case with you, Double? Or do you not actually have any happy birthdays?

evenhope · 01/09/2007 12:26

I remember my 10th, 16th, 17th and 18th. That's it. I came from a family that made a big deal of birthdays and my birthday was always in half term. I had a party every year until I was 10. I don't remember any of it HTH

Incidentally I have very few childhood memories at all, and what there are seem to be of school and not home/ holidays!

Original poster

DoubleLife · 01/09/2007 12:28

You are right pointydog I don't have any photos.
We were quite poor, my mother was v. busy and tired looking after my brother and I on her own.
I don't really want to ask her if I had any bithdays as a child as it could upset her. She did the best she could in the circumstances.

OP posts:

Original poster

DoubleLife · 01/09/2007 12:32

We (my db and I) don't have many pictures of us as children at all (mainly from school)

that's why probably I'm so obssesed with taking photos of my dd
I want her to have memories, be able to see what was she like as a child

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maman4 · 01/09/2007 12:35

All my birthdays were basically cr*p because I had to share them with my twin brother.I didn t get to have my own party until my 18th.My twin turned up stinking drunk from the pub and ruined everything,lost interest after that!!!

maman4 · 01/09/2007 12:46

I remember one party for my twin brother and me. A neighbour had made the cake and it had blue icing on one side and pink on the other!!I t really made me realise that a lot of people saw us as an entity and not as two individuals.I always get depressed on my birthday because it s not mine it s ours

Fireflyfairy2 · 01/09/2007 12:56

I don't remember anything much.

The birthday that always sticks out in my mind is the one when I would have been about 9 I think.

I didn't have many friends & my best friend was on holiday at the time. I remember seeing a girl from my class on the way home & telling her I was having a party & she could come if she liked

Of course, I was not having a party as there were 8 children in my family without adding any others. Anyway, the girls mam brought her to my house in a lovely party frock & I was affronted. She came in & asked where everyone was because me & my sibs were all sat doing homework!

My mam made chips (which was a very rare treat & we only had them on birthdays & the odd Friday) and sausages with peas! My mam had bought me a "My little pony" I even remember it was butterscotch! I loved it!

The girl ended up going back to school & telling everyone what had happened the evening before! That I didn't even have a party & we had chips for my birthday party

Funnily enough I stopped telling lies that day!!!!!

Hulababy · 01/09/2007 14:01

I wonder to what extent photos do play. We have few photos from childhood, as I guess many people do from back then. The memories I have are linked to those I have with photos generally. I guess those are the ones I can picture as I have seen the events again, and they will have prompted extra chats at home. And the photos seem to trigger other related memories.

Wonder if that means our children will appear to have more memories - through the number of digital photos and videos we take nowadays.

NAB3 · 01/09/2007 14:01

I remember my 6th but only because I have seen a pic and it brought the memories back. I just remember being excited because I was having ketchup with my food.

RustyBear · 01/09/2007 14:10

I remember my 3rd birthday - I had jelly sweets on my cake & my grandma helped me cut it - Iknow it was my 3rd, as she died a month later.

I remember my 10th - my mum made me an enormous teddy bear & I took it down the road to show the lady at the village shop.

And I remember my 18th - I was working at a hotel away from home & the owner bought me my first (legal)drink.

I don't really remember any others, except that when I was 14 we discovered that my birthday wasn't the 4th of August as we'd thought but the 3rd....

Jojay · 01/09/2007 14:33

Remember my 18th but none before that

Rhubarb · 01/09/2007 14:51

No. I have photos of one of my birthdays, I must have been around 13, I had 2 friends with me and a cake.

I remember my 21st. Vaguely remember going out with a friend for my 18th.

I think for our birthdays we had a couple of friends round and a bought cake. No parties or anything like that. My gran would have been there, she never missed our birthdays. And I had a large family so I would have done ok on pressies.

My dh's family never make a fuss about their birthdays. He never sends or receives cards. I make a fuss of his and he will get a card from his mum, but he finds the whole celebration thing quite odd as he never did it himself.

Original poster

DoubleLife · 01/09/2007 15:31

My dp is exactly the same Rhubarb- "It's just anther day" he says about birthdays and christmases as his family did not really celebrated it (long story)

OP posts:

berolina · 01/09/2007 15:35

One of my first memories is of my 3rd birthday - I had a blue balloon with '3' on it. (No idea how I recognised the number , but apparently I was reading fluently at 3). I then have brief memories of birthday parties.

Pinkchampagne · 01/09/2007 15:49

I don't remember that many of my birthdays as a child. I remember having a disco for my 10th birthday though.

pointydog · 01/09/2007 16:45

I do think photos (cine, video etc) play a huge part. And re-telling events again and again over the years.

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