Your earliest memory

[Pearl]

How far back can you remember? Studies have shown that one does not have the ability to "remember" before the age of three! My parents did a lot of homework on this subject because I can remember back to 1 1/2 years old. My first memory is of the linen closet door at the end of the hallway in the house our family was living in at the time. It had a crystal doorknob I couldn't reach! I would look up at my partial reflection in it. I can also remember details of us moving a month before my second birthday!

 

[hashbrown]

Living on an Army base in Oklahoma, I remember my mom pulling me to the mailboxes in a wagon. It would have been during the Viet Nam era.

 

[Bacpacker]

Somethings I've heard stories so many times of things I did when very young it seems like I remember them. But first thing I am sure of was when I was about 3, my step dad had me on an old John Deere A model mowing hay. We came around by the house and mother had brought out some lemonade for us. While we were stopped I was messing around and hit the kill switch without dad seeing it. It took him a bit to figure out what happened and get it restarted. He put me off the tractor for the rest of the day. Broke my heart.

 

[Weedygarden]

I remember laying in my crib and seeing the art piece that was on one of the ends. It may have been lambs or something. I also remember when I could not see the top of the kitchen table when I was standing beside it, and then I remember when I realized that I could.

 

[phideaux]

I was 2 years old. It was my birthday.

Mom, dad, and other family (don't remember who) we're at our place for hogkillin.
They had just rendered a bunch of lard . It was in 5 gallon cans , sitting in the yard , cooling. Somehow , someway , I managed to turn one over and spill it.
I remember my dad grabbing me and shaking me and hollering at me.

Later on , my folks talked about it , how I could have been burned to death.

That's the oldest thing I remember. I wish it was a better , good , memory.

Jim

 

[Bacpacker]

I was 2 years old. It was my birthday.

Mom, dad, and other family (don't remember who) we're at our place for hogkillin.
They had just rendered a bunch of lard . It was in 5 gallon cans , sitting in the yard , cooling. Somehow , someway , I managed to turn one over and spill it.
I remember my dad grabbing me and shaking me and hollering at me.

Later on , my folks talked about it , how I could have been burned to death.

That's the oldest thing I remember. I wish it was a better , good , memory.

Jim

My wife's aunts family had a similar story. One of their kid some how fell in the scalding bath and of course died from the burns. His dad pulled him out and was horribly burned himself. He never got over it till the day he died.
Just a reminder to all of how dangerous homesteading can be at times. You can't ever let your guard down

 

[Morgan101]

I have a few memories of living in an apartment in the city. I would have been about three years old.

 

[Patchouli]

Not sure which happened first…trying to open my eyes but I had conjunctivitis and couldn’t; lay in my crib crying a few seconds until mom came with a warm washcloth for my eyes…OR trying to say the word lightning while the babysitter held me. We were having a thunderstorm and power had gone out.

 

[Neb]

My earliest memories are getting penicillin shots and the sound of a freight train pounding in my head from repeated ear infection due to a sub mucus cleft pallet birth defect. But those are just memories of pain and sound.

Later memories with context were of my mother bathing my siblings in a wash tub on the sink.

I recall my father bringing home a rifle and my parents having hushed conversations during the Cuban missile crisis.

When I was almost 6 I remember my mother crying and wondering why there wasn't anything else on TV only a boring funeral.

Funny how all of those memories were traumatic.

I do remember sitting in a blanket tent feeding my baby brother ( @Firepolice271 ) a bottle. That wasn't traumatic.

Ben

 

[Caribou]

Mom was going down the row planting onion sets. As she moved forward I'd reach down and pull them up. Mom must have been about 8 1/2 months along.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I can't remember what I went in the other room for.

 

[Pearl]

Not sure which happened first…trying to open my eyes but I had conjunctivitis and couldn’t; lay in my crib crying a few seconds until mom came with a warm washcloth for my eyes…OR watching tv while mom ironed. It was a parade, in Dallas, of JFK, then he was shot. I was not quite 3. OR trying to say the word lightning while the babysitter held me. We were having a thunderstorm and power had gone out. My version of the word was “lightningningningning.”

I didn't talk until I was two, then it was whole sentences! I remember my mom and our neighbor talking about why I didn't talk. Been non-stop ever since!

 

[Pearl]

Mom was going down the row planting onion sets. As she moved forward I'd reach down and pull them up. Mom must have been about 8 1/2 months along.

No comment

 

[Curmudgeon]

When I was almost 6 I remember my mother crying and wondering why there wasn't anything else on TV only a boring funeral

That's about my earliest memory. I was 5.

 

[WVDragonlady]

I remember waking up from a nap in my parent's bed looking out the window to the yard. I had chickenpox at the time lol age 2 or 3? Don't know really, but I was little

 

[Spikedriver]

I have a very grainy memory of my uncle's acreage. I may or may not have been 3 yet. I remember a house built into a hillside overlooking a wide, gentle draw with a little creek at the bottom, and little pine trees in their yard.

I also have a few grainy memories of my oldest brother riding the pony we had. Of course when I was 3 my brother was 16 and probably almost 6' and 200 pounds, and that poor pony was barely 13 hands. In my memory he's a lot bigger and the pony was a lot smaller than reality.

Most of my early memories are from age 4 and 5 though. I would climb out of my little bed and crawl in bed with my oldest brother. He thought it was funny to fart under the covers and then stuff me under there with the stink. He would yell "Dutch oven!" Right before he did it. To this day I think of that whenever I hear the words Dutch oven...

 

[Amish Heart]

I remember the day my dad left, and when I had chicken pox. I was just under 3 yrs old. I remember walking down the street wherever I wanted, and didn't care probably around 3 or 4. I would say that my name was Missy (it isn't) and I came from the mountains.

 

[elkhound]

before i was old enough to go to school(kindergarten) i remember milking our cow in mornings with my grandfather.

i remember driving our tractor and i was so little my feet set perfect on transmission sitting in seat.told to miss the bales as i drove.i can honestly say i can never ever not remember not knowing how to drive anything.we had motorcycles in 2nd grade and i already been driving tractor a bunch...lol...the good ole days when people done stuff and crap happened from skint knees to busted lips to broke arms.

 

[Amish Heart]

I had to walk home from Kindergarten by myself to an empty house. Mom worked. We lived in San Jose, low rider central. So I memorized my address if I got lost. I still know it. 10240 Ryan Street.

 

[elkhound]

this is something i wrote a long time ago..i think its my earliest memory...cause it was eventful one !

momma joined the olympics.....


i was 3 years old and we was poor and mom was young.....she had a propane cook stove and was afraid of it..real bad..she said it got to hot...whatever that means...lol

well i was typical kid..sorta...i tended to get into stuff so when cooking she would lay a kitchen chair over the entrance on its side like a gate to keep me out of there....i was born hungry it seems.

mom she wore that typical 60's fashion....skirts...funky glasses hair all done up and pinned up all over with then old metal bobby pins.

so there i was trapped outside the kitchen....minding my own business when this bobby pin jumped off the coffee table into my hand.what to do? what to do?soooo down the hall i went.....

i rember stopping and looking back at her in kitchen....then i looked down...ahhh..eureka....a slot for the key!!!yep you got it..i jammed that metal bobby pin straight in that socket and i had a full grip on it too....next thing i know...a bright white dragon lept out of wall and wallopped me..it knocked backwards and bounced me off the opposite wall in hall.there i stood with a half melted bobby pin in my hand.

i heard a blood curdling scream and looked....it was momma...she realized what i had done and she came out of that kitchen across the top of that chair like an olypic runner crossing hurdles in a race.i can still see her in my minds eye....its just like the cover of sports illustrated only she was dolled up and in a skirt.if they had let her run back then all the sprints would have been victory's for the u.s.a.

by this time i think i am in deep trouble....i dropped that pin and turned and ran....i cleared the door and slammed it shut and flipped the lock.all i could hear was screaming and yelling....all i knew was a dragon came out of that socket and shoved me backwards ,bouncin my head off the wall.

i stood in there rubbing my hand across one of them white crochet bed spreads...it made my hand that felt a little tingly feel better and i was trying to decide if i should unlock that door....

i did unlock it after a bit and i was smothered in kisses after i was spun around looking for burnt or melted body parts.its a wonder it didnt melt the little metal snaps off my union suit....roflmao

yep...i am the reason those little plastic covers got invented..

 

[Bacpacker]

this is something i wrote a long time ago..i think its my earliest memory...cause it was eventful one !

momma joined the olympics.....


i was 3 years old and we was poor and mom was young.....she had a propane cook stove and was afraid of it..real bad..she said it got to hot...whatever that means...lol

well i was typical kid..sorta...i tended to get into stuff so when cooking she would lay a kitchen chair over the entrance on its side like a gate to keep me out of there....i was born hungry it seems.

mom she wore that typical 60's fashion....skirts...funky glasses hair all done up and pinned up all over with then old metal bobby pins.

so there i was trapped outside the kitchen....minding my own business when this bobby pin jumped off the coffee table into my hand.what to do? what to do?soooo down the hall i went.....

i rember stopping and looking back at her in kitchen....then i looked down...ahhh..eureka....a slot for the key!!!yep you got it..i jammed that metal bobby pin straight in that socket and i had a full grip on it too....next thing i know...a bright white dragon lept out of wall and wallopped me..it knocked backwards and bounced me off the opposite wall in hall.there i stood with a half melted bobby pin in my hand.

i heard a blood curdling scream and looked....it was momma...she realized what i had done and she came out of that kitchen across the top of that chair like an olypic runner crossing hurdles in a race.i can still see her in my minds eye....its just like the cover of sports illustrated only she was dolled up and in a skirt.if they had let her run back then all the sprints would have been victory's for the u.s.a.

by this time i think i am in deep trouble....i dropped that pin and turned and ran....i cleared the door and slammed it shut and flipped the lock.all i could hear was screaming and yelling....all i knew was a dragon came out of that socket and shoved me backwards ,bouncin my head off the wall.

i stood in there rubbing my hand across one of them white crochet bed spreads...it made my hand that felt a little tingly feel better and i was trying to decide if i should unlock that door....

i did unlock it after a bit and i was smothered in kisses after i was spun around looking for burnt or melted body parts.its a wonder it didnt melt the little metal snaps off my union suit....roflmao

yep...i am the reason those little plastic covers got invented..

I was told this by mom and mamaw. I inserted a key in one at the house. Not sure how old i was, 1 or 2. Dont recall what else happened then. But I had a burnt key for many years. May still have it stored away somewhere.

 

[SheepDog]

My earliest memories are building and using "rat runs" in the snow, my older brother and me sitting on the curb sucking on rocks, but the best one was mom running out of gas in dad's old Studebaker. The floor had a hole you could watch the street under you as mom coasted down the hill into the gas station. When she had to shift she used both hands so she always had to let go of the steering wheel. We moved from Spokane to Seattle In late summer when I was 3. Those events took place in Spokane. The snow was when I was 2 and the other events happened earlier.

 

[ladycat]

How far back can you remember? Studies have shown that one does not have the ability to "remember" before the age of three! My parents did a lot of homework on this subject because I can remember back to 1 1/2 years old. My first memory is of the linen closet door at the end of the hallway in the house our family was living in at the time. It had a crystal doorknob I couldn't reach! I would look up at my partial reflection in it. I can also remember details of us moving a month before my second birthday!

I also can remember back to about 1 1/2 years old. My grandmother didn't think anyone could remember back before 4 or 5 years old.

I can remember the house we briefly lived in at that time. I described the inside of the house to my mother, the placement of the rooms and furniture, and that was enough to convince her. I also remember how my daddy's friends would come over and sit in the living room (of that same house), drinking beer and smoking cigs. There was a big oval coffee table that the furniture was arranged around, and by the time everyone left, it was a big mess that made my mother fuss about having to clean. I described all that to my mother and she was astonished at all the details I could give.

She told my grandmother, who said someone must have told me about it. There wasn't anyone to tell me.

My daddy died when I was 26 1/2 months old, and I have a great many memories of him and of things that happened, people we knew, etc, before he died.

 

[Pearl]

I also can remember back to about 1 1/2 years old. My grandmother didn't think anyone could remember back before 4 or 5 years old.

I can remember the house we briefly lived in at that time. I described the inside of the house to my mother, the placement of the rooms and furniture, and that was enough to convince her. I also remember how my daddy's friends would come over and sit in the living room (of that same house), drinking beer and smoking cigs. There was a big oval coffee table that the furniture was arranged around, and by the time everyone left, it was a big mess that made my mother fuss about having to clean. I described all that to my mother and she was astonished at all the details I could give.

She told my grandmother, who said someone must have told me about it. There wasn't anyone to tell me.

My daddy died when I was 26 1/2 months old, and I have a great many memories of him and of things that happened, people we knew, etc, before he died.

That's awesome!!

 

[LadyLocust]

Funny it didn't dawn on my until reading these, but my 2 earliest memories are of great grandmothers. My earliest, I didn't know what it was but I was wrapped up - sorta, and my mom handed me to an old lady in a bed with all white sheets. My dad was sitting next to my mom but it wasn't in soft chairs. It was like stools or something. My mom said that was when they went and saw her Gma, my Great Gma. I was about a year and a half old. The other was sitting in my other great grandma's lap with a blanket. She liked me because I was quiet. I was a little older then, maybe 3ish. Lots after that.

 

[dademoss]

I think my earliest is at around 3 1/2 years old. We lived in the 2nd floor above in the house Dads parents built. I was telling Mom I could walk down the steps all my myself (Turns out I was wrong ). I remember the mis-step, but not the fall down the steps where I broke my arm.

 

[SoJer]

..then i looked down...ahhh..eureka....a slot for the key!!!... metal bobby pin straight in that socket..

#MeToo. (probably why I 'look like this'.. Yah, pretty-much the same experiment / experience, 'cept I used a somewhat-pointy butter / almost-steak knife.. Wern't no 'sharp, pointy tip' after that, though! I only recall a 'flash' - then Lots of crying.. That memory was ~3, but..

..Oldest one I can recall Vividly, was ~2 - 2.5 yrs old, tops, and it was of a Ginormous Green Tupperware Bowl that my Mother brought home (I'm sure ya'll remember 'Tupperware Parties', ya? I just remember being mesmerized by it for some reason, and just did Not stop wanting to play with it.. I seem to recall something like putting it over my head (it was like ~18" or bigger, was Huge..) and tripping out over the 'echo chamber inside'..

..and Man, we had that stinkin bowl for Decades, I can recall Mom using it for countless Salads and Summer Fruit Salads / Watermelon-balls taken to Picnics, etc, well into near-Teens..

..I think it 'finally met it's demise' after one Horrible 'stomach bug' that we All got (probably contam'd lettuce or something she bought / we all ate at dinner one night..) and I vividly-recall one of my little Sisters using it as a 'barf bowl'.. That was the Last I recall ever seeing that thing, Lol..

I'm Thankful to have a rather extensive set of 'Home Movies' in my ol' Attic, still.. Lots of Good - and some Crazy / Not-so good - Childhood memories..

jd

 

[kd4ulw]

I can remember my mother washing my hair laying on my back on the kitchen counter with my head in the sink. I was probably 3.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I dont remember too much from an early age. But 2 things I do remember was my brother telling me that I was found in a garbage can and that I was adopted. And apparently I didn't like people much because I was always telling everyone to "shubup go way".

 

[SoJer]

..I was always telling everyone to "shubup go way".

Outstanding Policy. Only thing missing is making the sound-fx 'CHK-CHKK!!' in 3 secs if'n they Don't..

jd