I have a couple of memories from around 2 years old (most of them involving forcing people to watch me dance or listen to me sing or whatever I wanted them to watch me do at the time) but they are all like still frame photographs in my head and there is no context to them. The first memories I have with any context to them are from about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 when my little brother was born prematurely and died in the hospital a few months later.
What's your earliest childhood memory? Is it possible my niece has one from when she was in diapers?
Hmm. I have very fuzzy memories of being dropped off at at babysitter. I can sort of remember the house, a row home in Philly. There was a corner store as well at the end of the block. I also remember getting in trouble for trying to climb a power line tower with some older kids. Same timeframe.
For some reason, from around the same time, I remember seeing a Burger Chef restaurant. It was probably on the route to sitter’s house.
I remember being in the van that Dad owned and watching the door slide open. I was born in '68 and he replaced the van with a station wagon in '70.
My first memory is of being bathed by my mother in a small plastic baby tub, that has a head rest in it. I remember feeling like I was sinking, feeling helpless about it, and worrying that my head would slip, but my mother would always lift my head before I sunk under the water. I remember not really trusting her about it.
I also remember sitting in front of the TV saying things like “ba ba ba” mimicking what I heard, and then stopping, realizing I was making weird noises and feeling embarrassed about it.
I don’t have any idea what age I was either time.
I remember lying on the kitchen table having my diaper changed. I’m looking up into a florescent light. i look to one side and see my sister sitting on a kitchen chair. I look to the other side and see red wallpaper with eggs and chickens on it.
When I described this scene to my mother years ago, she said “We lived in a place with that kitchen wallpaper, but we moved from there when you were 18 months old!” It’s too common a memory to have been told to me, and I also remember having the idea that I could remember things at that moment (if that makes any sense).
I remember being in preschool and staring out the window on a rainy day watching raindrops splash off puddles. I remember thinking, for some reason, abut how it was 1990 and how that was a really, really big number. That would mean that I was four years old at the time.
I guess I was a bit of a late bloomer.
The last cigarette commercial on U.S. TV aired on January 1, 1971, so I’m guessing you’re referring to the United Kingdom, where such ads were banned in 1965. The link goes on to say that “[n]on-television advertising campaigns were still allowed in the UK but came under stricter guidelines in 1986”, but doesn’t mention whether theaters were still featuring such promotions that late.
I remember being potty-trained at around 2. I was extremely attached to my miniature toilet and did not want to use the big one. I also remember my third birthday vividly (I puked up my morning oatmeal while watching Mr. Rogers). I have much clearer memories of ages 2-10 than I do of the last 15 years…
I have plenty of 2-3ish memories; the problem is tying them to anything that would indicate the exact year.
For example, I remember having a teddy bear that could wear the same clothes I did; based on the size of the teddy bear, I was probably 2 or 2 1/2 at the time.
I recall riding with my mother and being in the car seat, which in the early 1970s meant I couldn’t have been very old at all.
The earliest thing I recall that I can pin to a specific age was later than those memories, and took place when I was about 3. In our city, they painted the fire hydrants in our neighborhood in patriotic colors and designs due to the bicentennial in 1976, at which point I would have been 3 1/2, so I couldn’t have been much older than 3 when they actually painted them (it was in the spring).
I have a couple of memories of my granddaddy who died when I was 2 1/2, so sometime before then.
I have two memories at less than two years old, because we moved so they happened before that.
- We were in a tornado shelter with other people forever.
- I was shown a prairie dog by my parents at someplace that had a covered wagon as decor.
I have a couple of very clear memories that would have been before my 2nd birthday. The first one was Christmas and my grandpa paying Santa for me. I recogniced his very distinctive voice and I can still feel the artificial beard he wore to try and disguise his face. I would have been about 18 months old at the time.
We’ve tried to discuss any other time I could have remembered that from, but he didn’t dress up that way or living in the house I remembered at any other time. I can actually still smell the homemade ginger cookies my grandma made for me to give to Santa. Very cool memory…
The early memory I had was when my sister was born and I would have been a couple months shy of 2 years old. I remember my dad asking if I wanted a brutha or a sissy. I told him I wanted a kitten or puppy. Naturally, I got the sister. Never was too pleased about that outcome! Both memories are still really vivid even after the 50ish years that have passed.
Memories become much clearer and frequent at about 2 1/2 years.
I remember waking up and crawling out of my bed because I could hear voices in the kitchen. I walked out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen, because I knew that was where my parents would be. Mom gave me a bottle and sent me back to bed. I have no recollection of my sister in this memory and I was definitely young enough for a bottle, but old enough to walk, so I’d guess around 20 months.
I can’t give an exact age, but I remember my 3rd birthday party very clearly, and many events before it. I can tell you (from before 3) the name of my friend, where he lived, how we used to play, where a cat lived in the building, about my guinea pig and tricycle, how my room was configured and what toys I had, and many specific anecdotes about my parents and their guests. My earliest memory is of being on a ship to the U.S. when I was much closer to 2 than 3.