How far back do you remember events?

[SinfulWeeper]

I'm 31 and dont remember a thing before yesterday

 

[TallBill]

I'm 24 and remember my 4th birthday party and specifically one toy that I worked hard to remember forever.

 

[Cuda1447]

1994 which would make me 9. 22 right now.

 

[Oxaqata]

Edit

 

[Triumph]

28 and I can tie my memories to the start of school (kindergarten). I really don't remember much of anything before that. But in general, I have a horrible memory. Even stuff in high school, just ten years ago, conversations with friends about mutual experiences, I usually can't remember them.

Memory is strange, though. Yesterday I was watching the opening theme to the PBS kids show 3-2-1 Contact. If you had asked me to recount each of those images in the intro before I watched it, I couldn't do it. But while watching it, every single image seemed so familiar, like I had just watched it last week. Memory is strange.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
My earliest memories are from under 1 year old and I am now 44. It all depends on the person.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[ultimatebob]

The first thing I remember was my sister being born, and I was 4 at the time. I remember seeing Mom at the hospital, and I remember getting to eat a fried chicken TV dinner that evening. Mom never made those, so that was a treat!

Oddly enough, I don't have any memories of my sister until she was a year old. I accidentally forgot to lock the gate (hey, I was 5!), and she fell down the stairs. Oops!

 

[her209]

I remember having my ring finger getting smashed when I was 2. I even lost a little bit of it.

 

[Lola]

I can remember back when I was two. It was the day my brother was born and then the day he came home from the hospital. I can remember a few less things from about 1yr old as well.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: RollWave
1 year old?! HAHAHA Yea right.

I have memories from that age as well. I didn't know how old I was. I discussed a few events with my mother one day and she was stunned as she remembered; ditto my father. Earliest memory: getting into a bus I was crying, my father was carrying me; when I woke up, we were in a car, went to a house (it was my uncle's.) I played in a gravel driveway, and they had a tonka crane that I wanted to play with but wasn't allowed to. I was 1.

I also remember my grandmother babysitting me when my younger brother was born. I was 22 months old at the time. I was in a playpen. I had colored plastic blocks about 3 to 4 inches across with holes in the middle of them to stack on something; I don't recall what. I also had those different sized round rings that you stack up on a plastic stick in order from largest to smallest. I liked chewing on them. They had a peculiar taste. My playpen was in the dining room, my grandmother sat on the couch in the living room against the front wall of the house watching me. Any time I taste something or smell something similar to those blocks, the memory comes rushing back.

I have tons of memories of very early childhood (and, of course, memories throughout my life.) I can remember all my elementary school teachers. I can't remember my kindergarten teacher, but that's probably because I had several; at least 3 or 4 that year. The year before, I used to wait outside every day for the girl 2 doors down to get home from kindergarten; then we'd play together. (I was 3; I started kindergarten when I was 4) Until I was 1 year old, I only have the vaguest memories of where we used to live: upstairs, wood floors, very open area.

 

[Agentbolt]

I've already posted a link where a scientist doing experiments on memory explains that the human brain isn't developed enough to be able to remember stuff for any length of time until the child is 2.5-3 years old. If you people want to keep claiming you remember stuff from when you were one, well, be my guest. Maybe your brains mutated.

 

[Oceandevi]

I remember certain things, but I never really put an age to it all. Most likely about 3 years old or so. Thats the first house I remember living in. I have no memories of the home I was a newborn in.

 

[alien42]

i remember coming out of my moms vag....

uhhhhhh, nevermind

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: gamepad
I have a few images stored in my brain from when I was about 3 or 4. I remember lots of things when I was 4 to 5.

Same here. Just a few brief snippets of information.

When I was younger, like maybe kindergarten age or a little less, I told my mom about remembering something "a long time ago" - I was warm, but was suddenly in a bright place that was very cold, and that made me upset to the point of crying. After I gave more details, she said that I was describing the day I was born.

I wound up forgetting all of this though; she told me about it a few years ago.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: lyssword
I was kinda surprised, I asked one 31 yr old man and he said he doesn't remember anything before age of 15.

To qualify as "remembering" you need to remember at least 2 events that year.

I'm 21 right now, earliest memories was when I was 6 years old, and I can recall a lot of details.

Please share what age you had your earliest memories

i remember the 1st time i fingered a girl. i was 13. i paid her $3. Jr High Prostitution FTW

I also remember getting an Atari 2600 (forgot age). Inflation adjusted prices, it would be over $1000 in today's $. :Q I was surprised that i got it. i also felt bad since i knew mom/dad didnt have much $ at that time. $1000 was alot of $ to them at that point.

hm.. seems things i remember are either very happy/illegal or very sad/embarassing. i tend to like the illegal ones better. but i hate waiting till the statue of limitations expire b4 i can retell the story. damn the law...

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Do previous lives count? If so, I can remember back to the first Imperial Chinese expansion.

 

[LordNoob]

I remember before I had the misfortune of reading a Casiotech post.

 

[shortylickens]

I remember a lot of stuff from Montessori preschool (which my parents said I attended from age 3 to 5).

I actually do remember one experience from my crib. My teddy got his head stuck between the bars as I recall.
I wasnt strong enough to get him out. I tried crying, but no sound came out.
The whole experience is pretty hazy but thats the gist (jist?) of it.


Another weird tidbit:

I recall Kindergarten quite well. 1st grade poorly. 2nd grade well. 3rd grade barely anything. 4th grade a lot.
I am 28 now and it seems just about every year of school after 4th grade has an equal amount of memories.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: lyssword
I was kinda surprised, I asked one 31 yr old man and he said he doesn't remember anything before age of 15.
To qualify as "remembering" you need to remember at least 2 events that year.
I'm 21 right now, earliest memories was when I was 6 years old, and I can recall a lot of details.
Please share what age you had your earliest memories

i remember the 1st time i fingered a girl. i was 13. i paid her $3. Jr High Prostitution FTW

Seriously, my junior high memories suck.
I never got to play spin the bottle.
I never had the chance to pay a girl a buck to look up her dress. DAMN sure never got any sticky finger. Never even had my first real kiss (tongue lashing) until 17.
When I watch movies like Kids and Thirteen and see news articles about junior-high oral-sex parties I think I really should have been born in '89, not '79.

Either it didnt go on when I was that age (doubtful) or I never got invited (probable).

 

[legoman666]

I remember things from living in my old house, but I don't know specifically how old I was. But since we moved out of the house when I was 3, I'd imagine the memories are from when I was 2 or 3.

Few of the things I remember are playing in the sandbox and finding "tickle bugs" (the little gray things that ball up when they get disturbed. I have no idea what theyre really called, its just what I've always called them).

I also remember losing the hook that attached a trailer to my little yellow play car that you moved with your feet. I was very upset and mustve looked in the grass for it for a long time.

I also remember being in my neighbors yard and messing around with the hose.

Also have a memory of hiding behind the lay z boy type chair when the baby sitter was there. There was a big cold air return behind the chair that I used to drop little lego pieces into.

I also remember finding it weird that you were allowed to dip oreos in chocolate milk since the oreos were already chocolate.

Sometimes I have a hard time differenting between memories and stories my parents have told me. Anyone else experience this?

 

[legoman666]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Seriously, my junior high memories suck.
I never got to play spin the bottle.
I never had the chance to pay a girl a buck to look up her dress. DAMN sure never got any sticky finger. Never even had my first real kiss (tongue lashing) until 17.
When I watch movies like Kids and Thirteen and see news articles about junior-high oral-sex parties I think I really should have been born in '89, not '79.

Either it didnt go on when I was that age (doubtful) or I never got invited (probable).

word to that, I must've gone to the wrong catholic grade school and the wrong all male high school......

...On second thought, maybe it is a good thing that there were no oral sex parties at my high school....

heh.

 

[AlienCraft]

I clearly remember looking out of the window of Air Force Constellation C-121 as we flew over Tokyo Bay in 1959.
I'm 50.
Dad was being stationed at Yokota AFB.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I've already posted a link where a scientist doing experiments on memory explains that the human brain isn't developed enough to be able to remember stuff for any length of time until the child is 2.5-3 years old. If you people want to keep claiming you remember stuff from when you were one, well, be my guest. Maybe your brains mutated.

I'll see your link demonstrating that the research of just one professor does not make something so. It's weird: one common thing that a lot of people in this thread alone had as an early memory was the birth of a sibling. Maybe that's a traumatic experience for infants: suddenly, their mother, whom they've seen every day of their lives, is missing for a couple days.

Regardless, the memories I had were of real events. It wasn't until later in life that I was able to find out what these memories were of. I was only on a bus once in early childhood - at the age of 1. This was known by my parents. They didn't know that I remembered the bus. The connection between age and bus was made much later in life.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

till about the 8th drink

 

[Agentbolt]

I'll see your link demonstrating that the research of just one professor does not make something so. It's weird: one common thing that a lot of people in this thread alone had as an early memory was the birth of a sibling. Maybe that's a traumatic experience for infants: suddenly, their mother, whom they've seen every day of their lives, is missing for a couple days.

Your link doesn't have any info that supports your claim, as near as I can tell. There's nothing in it where someone specifically says that people 1 or younger can remember things, it just says the pre-verbal children have mostly the same brain structure as verbal children in regards to memory.

I suppose it does partially depend on what we're defining as a "memory". For example in my link, the researcher DID say it's possible to recall certain feelings, so if something traumatic happened (like a sibling coming into the world) then it's entirely possible to remember feeling upset. He said any specific events or objects being remembered wouldn't be factual though.