Earliest Memory

My first memory is of my baby brother, he was born when I was 22 months old. I remember my mom carrying him into the house when she got back from the hospital, my older brother (he was 3) and I ran up to mom and my older brother reached up and touched my baby brother’s foot. He then made a big deal about how HE had touched the new baby first so it was now HIS brother more than mine. I remember being pouty about that. Then three years later when my baby sister was born I remember running down the hall of the hospital to see her and beating my brothers to mom so that I was now the one who got to touch the baby first!

My earliest memory is getting my photo taken at 3 months old by an in home photographer. I remember thinking why is this man who looks nothing like the other men in my life making scary faces at M.. I began to cry. The photographer picks M. up while my mom gets M. a bottle. I remember feeling like I REALLY NEEDED my mother.

My mom died June 2011 and there are days I still feel like that desperate 3 month old that really needed her mom. Today is one of those days.

But the memory of feeling comforted when my mom held M. is still with M.. I'm such a big baby and a momma's girl.

WHAT???? I think something must be wrong with M.. I don't remember anything prior to like age 3-4ish. And then only little clips, not big long memories. But I've always had a hard time remembering things, even now.

It's funny, because I don't know how old I was, but we moved around a bit in my pre-school years so I can guess my approximate age. But I have a lot of disjointed memories from this or that location, so it's hard to know which is the FIRST.

I remember being at a distant relative's house with some distant cousin and making mudpies. I remember going to a birthday party across the street with my older brothers and getting a beach ball as a take home treat/prize. I remember a scary storm that my middle brother and I dragged our sleeping bags into the living room and cowered under them in the dark during the daytime, and a pine tree was blown down outside (I've always thought it was a tornado, but my mom says there was no tornado). I remember going with my mom to pick up my brother at kindergarten. All of these memories are during the time period where we lived in one house/town, and I was probably about 2 or 2 1/2.

I don't really know how they have influenced M., or even if they really did. I really don't like storms (heavy winds and heavy lightening)... but I don't KNOW that it is related to that distant memory. Lots of people don't like storms.
I have a friend that remembers the wallpaper border that lined up with the top of her crib when she was less than a year old. She can describe the colors and flowers on it (I think she said it was tulips?)... I think she was more influenced by the poetry her mother read to her during all her toddler years. Who knows?

I remember as a toddler I got trapped under the rocking chair. I wasn't supposed to be messing with it, and I flipped it over and couldn't get myself out. I wasn't hurt. I remember as a toddler I would crawl under my crib for toys that had gotten away, and I would always raise my head too soon and catch my hair in the coils. I would keep trying thinking that "this time" I could do it right. I brought this up to my mother a couple of weeks ago, and she said that I pulled quite a bit of my hair out during that time. I remember when I was potty-training. My mother would get M. out of bed in the mornings and let M. walk to the potty. I remember trying to say "grandmother" to my great grandmother. As hard as I tried, I could not make the "th" sound and kept repeating "Grandmud-DAH" with the emphasis on the last syllable because I was trying to for a correction.

My first memory is of my preschool at age 4. I remember what it looks like, walking down the hall to go to my classroom, and playing in the room. I'm sure the experience influenced who I am, but the memory itself? Nope. Interesting question...

My parents telling M. they were getting a divorce, I was in kindergarden and all I remember was thinking - you promised M. you would never do this to M.! So, never make promises you J. can not keep no matter their age because they remember.

Years ago, I had a flashback in my mind and asked my mother about it. I said, "Mom, where was I when my father carried M. down a small flight of concrete stairs into a sweetshop? I was wearing a grey sweatshirt and I threw up all over him." My mother's face was ashen, as she told M. that it happened when we lived in England and I was only 18 months old. She was astounded that I suddenly remembered it all so clearly and had never been told the story. I still remember it well, and I J. turned 50 in September.

Scary memory...most profound...

We were living in Norfolk, VA and we came home (I was about 3) to a burning cross in our neighbors yard....all because some pinhead thought the color of someone's skin either made them better or worse.

I remember standing up in my crib and calling out to mom to come get M.. I had woken from my nap. She didn't hear M. or chose not to. I wasn't upset, or thinking she was ignoring M.. I J. tried several more times being louder each time. I have no idea how old I was. Since I was the third child and we only had two bedrooms, I suppose it is possible that she kept M. in a crib longer than the usual time. Certainly, my head was above the bars. No impact... Many of my memories are reinvigorated by pictures. If I see a picture of myself at a young age doing something, I usually can remember a thought I had at that time, even if it was 3-4. Some memories I can't tie an age to. Perhaps I J. know that I was watching TV on the floor close to the TV when I heard my parents bicker once and I worried slightly what would happen if they split. Perhaps that was because they had a type of "Divorce Court" on TV back then too so I knew about that concept.

I remember standing up on the bench of a picnic table my parents had brought inside for my 2nd birthday party. I remember them talking about the sleet that was going on and M&Ms my mother had put in paper cups at each setting. It and some other very early childhood memories are what I call "snapshot" memories. They're very old, and they're like little pieces of scenes forever etched in my mind. My two very favorites, because like the one described they had to be so early are my mother leaning over my crib railing at naptime and winding up a fuzzy little toy I had that played "Rock a Bye Baby" and the best -I remember my mother holding M. and rocking M. in front of the fireplace. I was probably close to 2 or 3, but that's a wonderful memory.

Riding in a car on our way to a beach vacation.
Not sure how old I was, but apparently VERY young, since my 'assigned seat' was actually the floor area behind the driver's seat in the car! (No car seats back then! LOL)

mine start around 3. I started preschool at 3 and remember the first day and days following vividly still. I still remember how I felt that day and how I wanted to fake cry so that I would get extra hugs like the other kids. my daughter is only 5 but she recalls details of when she was 1 and 2. The other day she told M. how she felt when we watched a 3d show when she was 2 and what show it was and why it scared her

Mine was age 5: first day of Kindergarten

My sister, however, remembers a family event when she was about 18 or 24 months that she could possible ever know. I was there & barely remember it (but I do.....loosely) and we never spoke about it because it wasn't a big type of memory.

I remember being 2 and being outside on a sunny summer day, with lots of green grass and trees and a house, wearing orange terry cloth diaper covers that kept falling down.

That's it. It's a silly, trivial memory that has no influence on who I am.

Are you worried that your child is going to remember times you screwed up (which happens to every mom, every dad, everyone) and be scarred for life? If so, that's a worry you should scratch off your list.

My earliest memory is M. at like 4 sitting at the fire place talking with my mother. This have a profound impact on M. due to its content but I will tell you that I like my repressed memories because I donot want them to have a negative impact on M. now.

I remember when I was 3 and I would go in to see my grandpa who was sick in bed. He always had a jar of candy by his bed, lemon drops, and he would let us have one. He died a month before I turned 4 and not long after he died, I climbed to the top of the swingset and dropped the swings down then hung upside down by my knees from the top bar. I remember wiping my hands on my legs before going up and I was in shorts and tank top. I fell and broke my arm. I remember sitting between my parents on the way to the hospital and crying, not because it hurt but because I was scared and didn't want to stay in the hospital. My parents kept telling M. I probably wouldn't have to stay but I ended up staying. I remember the nurse coming in with a shot that they put in my arm and it didn't hurt. I remember them putting M. in a big crib and giving M. a doll that was as big as M. to play with. I was mad because I was too big to be sleeping in a crib. I am not a baby I would tell them. I remember looking through this window at the nurses fixing the meds and such for people and using my index finger to get them to come to M.. They thought that was so cute and told my mom about it when she came the next day. We went to get meds on the way home and my parents bought M. a little doll that had a bottle. We then went to my grandma's house and I showed her the doll and asked what she was going to give M. for being hurt, much to my mom's embarrassment. She gave M. a shinny silver dollar. I turned 4 the next month and still had the cast on my arm. My baby brother was born the next month and I remember my mom being pregnant and my aunt Pat coming to stay with us and I wasn't always well behaved..lol

Earliest memory is M. lying in a crib, crying for my mom, and seeing my aunt come in stirring up some brown liquid-y stuff that looked like baby food. She left the room and I got distracted with my own crying, realizing that I was making spit bubbles when I was saying "mama"...

My mom tells M. that she knows when this was, her and my dad went out of town for a couple days and I was under the care of my Aunt Margo (and my older sisters about ages 5 and 11). She remembers because my oldest sister had to comfort M. a lot and they reported I really missed my mom and my sister had to be with M. a lot because I wasn't feelin' aunt Margo. She thinks I was maybe not quite 1 year old.

Weird, I don't remember anything after till about age 3 or 4. And that's like my only real memory of Margo, since she divorced my uncle and became estranged from him a few years later.

I can see why I remember it though, I wanted my mommy! I don't remember feeling any certain way (like worried or abandoned or anything), J. that in that one moment I wanted her.

No long term effect on my life :)

My first memory is when I was a toddler. My parenting were fighting and my dad grabbed packed M. up and threatened to leave. I am not sure if we left that night, but I think it is very teling that my first memory is a negative one. I think it has had an impact on my life and my self-esteem.

My earliest memory is the day my baby brother came home from the hospital. I was 2 yrs2 months 9 days old. I was in the kitchen with my older brother and sister. 10 and 6. They were washing/drying dishes and handing M. the silverware to put away. I was so short I couldnt even see into the drawer and they were yelling at M. for doing it wrong. I started to cry, and my brother said, "stop crying, youre not the baby of the family anymore".. At that moment the door opened and in walked M. and dad with the new baby. And my brother and sister both went running to see him and my dad held him away from them and called my name and asked if Id like to hold him first.
I do think it had an effect on my life and I have always enjoyed working with small kids much more than older kids. I have had a certain "sympathy" for toddlers and want them to feel secure and loved. I think maybe it came from that first memory.

I remember being around 2 and eating orange chapstick. Hey, it smelled good! It stuck to the roof of my mouth and that's when I realized mom was gonna be mad and I didn't want her to know, so I tried to get it out with toilet paper, which J. stuck to the chapstick! After that I gave up and cried for my mom. Oddly enough, I don't remember if she was mad or what she did about it.

LOVE this question. What fun.

I have many memories from when I was a wee one. My first take place in my birthplace, so I must have been 2 1/2 and under. I'm not sure which came first and I like them all, so here they are:

- My dog was hit by a car when I was 2. It's a jumble, but I remember my dad coming home with her in the back of the truck and my mom, sister, and I sat on the couch (same one I have now) J. cryin' and cryin' and cryin'.

- A dream. I walked to the base of the stairs and then JUMPED into a back flip and FLEW backwards, right on up to the top! Since, I have a hard time believing we can't fly. I'm sure it's J. a mental thing ;-)

- Swimming. Our mama taught us to swim when we were infants. I remember the freedom and quiet of being in the water, of the blurry lines of her body and swimsuit under the water, and of finding her and grabbing hold of her arm, lifted for a breath. She felt strong, slippery, and comfortable.

- Stepping on a nail. There was a lot of blood.

- Our snoopy sheets, the carpet, the walls. Laying next to my sister and feeling safe.

- Mushroom hunting. I got to ride in a backpack and I remember the colors of the forest.

- I remember being at the river, the stones smooth and large under foot. Hot air balloons in the sky, a rubber ducky race, the barn (the light coming in between boards, dust hanging in the air over tack and oiled tools), horses with their hair long from winter, snow, my little sorel boots, my sister - always there. I remember the way those things felt, more than anything. Not a specific memory, J. feelings and smells and colors.

Showering naked, with my mom.

bwahahahahahahaha

I must have been 4 or 5 y.o. (circa 1980). In school, this girl lifts her cute skirt and has on a pretty amazing underwear, it was the color of the sky and had layers from top (waistline) to bottom, I had never seen anything like that before, it looked like a ballerina mini-skirt. I guess it did influence M. because later on (when I was older and could handle it) I started to question my mother's choices as far as picking my "nun-style" clothes. Perhaps I wanted to be "fabulous" too!!!

Probably my first memory was when my baby sister was born, when I was 3 going on 4. I can remember seeing my mom and dad going to the carport, and my middle sister and I were crying and scared LOL. My mom ended up delivering my sister while my dad was parking the car - that's how quick it went. So things were probably chaotic at our house that night!

My mom had 3 of us in 3 years and 11 months!! It still amazes M..

Riding a little blue tricycle on a hill outside of a pale green house. I was told I as two and a half to three years old when I lived there, right after my sister was born. The memory is both happy and scary. I know I was having fun but I'm sure that hill was dangerous, and I'm pretty sure I was playing outside alone :(
Not sure how or if this has affected M. or not (?)

playing cards with my gr-gpa & beating him....& watching him walk away with his cane, boohoo'ng to my Mom! I was about 3, my Sis was 1. He was a cantankerous old man....& when my Mom joined the family, he adored her. He was my paternal gr-gpa....& even my Dad was afraid of him!

My Mom was the 1st person to ever backtalk him, mouth off to him, & he loved it. Perhaps he had J. mellowed by then....but to this day (40+ years later), the family consensus is the still the same: Mom, my Sis, & I had his heart.

My first memory was when I was about 2 years old. My mother was taking my picture and I got to hold my baby sister on the couch. Sadly my now divorced parents were arguing at the time as well. I guess it is part good part bad.