# What's your first memory?



## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

I'm pretty sure I can remember being out in the garden in my pram.  I particularly remember the string of coloured plastic lambs that were strung across my eye line.  What are your memories?


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## MrPLD (Sep 23, 2010)

using the hose/water-jet to spin the wheel on my truck, trying to 'maximise' the speed - I was 3.


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

Sounds like a damp pastime.  I was always fixated on creating a perpetual motion effect and was disappointed when I never succeeded.


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## MrPLD (Sep 23, 2010)

At least your attempts are still maintaining the perpetual aspect


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

Oh yes!  Attempting is a perpetual state - achieving would be a result sometimes


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## JRMurdock (Feb 12, 2011)

Having chicken pox and not being able to go outside (I think I was also 3)


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

No fun at all - particularly when you can't scratch!


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Pretty sure I can remember laying crosswise in my crib.  I was under a sunlamp which was attached to the crib sidebars because they would have been closer to the mattress than the top of the ends of the crib.  I was born in December.  If I didn't come out with eczema, I'm sure I had it by the following winter season . . . so the sunlamp treatments (back then).  I had it EVERY winter season of my life until it finally disappeared in my mid 40s.  Anyway, I asked my Mom about it later in my life.  As she was an older mom, by that time she couldn't remember about the sunlamp.


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## ZsuZsu (Dec 27, 2009)

I have a very distinct memory of sitting in my high chair in the kitchen while my mom was coloring her hair at the kitchen sink.  I had a bowl of chocolate pudding and started rubbing it all over my head (I guess because that's what it looked like my mom was doing!)- she caught site of me doing it and I can remember her running toward me telling to stop it, but not picking me up or touching me (because she had hair dye all over her hands!)


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

I gather that sun lamp treatment was quite common at one time - I guess it would be frowned upon today.

I'll bet the mum with the hair dye and chocolate pudding was pretty frustrated.

By the way, what do you think about the book cover in the signature below - too small?


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Sitting in a high chair.  I can still see the dress my mother was wearing, the wallpaper and curtains.


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

I remember seeing my mother in a wheelchair, holding a blanket bundle. I knew the bundle held my new baby sister, but my only concern was WHAT did the hospital people DO to my mom?! I had no idea, of course, that patients got wheeled out and that she was perfectly fine. 

My sister was born when I was not quite 2 1/2, so I figure that's probably my first memory.


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

I thought my pram was pretty early but I don't have the vivid memories you guys obviously have.


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## rla1996 (Oct 28, 2008)

I remember a sour kraut fight my sisters had one day when we were having lunch.  I remember being in my highchair my sister who is 4 years older than my on my right and the one that's 2 years older than me on my left.  After tasting the Kraut they started taking it off their plates and putting it in the middle of the table between them.  I'm not sure what led to flinging but I remember that too.  Apparently I just watched though because I don't remember throwing and my mom says that I didn't.  Needless to say they don't remember this incident and think I'm making it up, but mom says it happened.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

I remember jumping in my crib after a nap as my mom came down the hall, singing, to pick me up. I was probably 2 or 3.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

My mom had my brother a month after my third birthday, but I remember watching her tummy get fat over time, and kissing the "baby"(tummy) goodnight long before my brother was born. 
I also remember looking up at my dad's belt buckle (think large cowboy buckle) and thinking I wanna be THAT big (tall). I can even picture the belt buckle in my head right now. He remembers the buckle, but no longer has it.
I was under 3 when I had my first "swim lesson" and I remember it pretty well too. There was another kid there that day that was screaming scared of the water, and all I wanted him to do was go away and let me swim.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Falling off a changing table... I guess it was traumatic enough to remember.

Dawn


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

The earliest I think I can remember was when I was 3 year old and choking on a penny, trying to find my mother. I don't know how long it actually took, but I vividly remember seeing the inside if the garage through tears, getting into the kitchen, and her jerking me up off my feet, turning me upside down, and smacking the crap out of my back. That penny popped out, and she went back to cleaning up, like it was no big deal.

I realize now that she was intentionally trying to make it seem like no big deal (though I did get the "See what happens when you stick things in your mouth?" mini-lecture) but inside she was probably terrified of what could have happened...


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## div (Aug 25, 2010)

My father, in our kitchen, leaning on his Canadian crutches for support while reaching into a cabinet. I was probably 3 or 4.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

My earliest memories are of sitting in my mom's lap in the rocking chair while she sang, "Little cottage in the woods, little man by the window stood, little rabbit came hopping along, knocking at the door..." She also used to do, "This is the church and this is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people". (I loved any songs with accompanying hand gestures.)

That old rocking chair is still around but it's falling apart now.


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## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

I remember standing in my crib, gnawing the finish off of the headboard.  I know I was less than two years old.  Also remember sitting in the crib with my legs hanging off the edge of the mattress, through the spindles, swinging my legs.  If I hit the right spot the crib rail would fall, making it much easier to climb over and out.


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

Following dad down the stairs. I sat on each stair and lowered myself down one by one. Mom and Dad were talking. I spilled outside half naked out the door into the snow. I was about three. Two minutes after being outside big brother came after me (he always kept in me in line) and dragged me back inside. Literally dragged me inside


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The only memories I can pin down to a specific age are things surrounding the birth of my younger sister, when I would have been between 3-1/2 years old to a couple months shy of 4. There may be other vaguer memories from earlier, but I can't really be sure of the relative times.

The clearest humorous memory is when my mother was getting close to going to the hospital, and some relative who was visiting to help out asked me what I wanted. I hadn't been paying attention to the conversation and did not realize they were asking if I wanted a brother or a sister, so I said I wanted a helicopter, making everyone else laugh. Sure enough, when Mom arrived home a few days later with my baby sister, she had a red plastic helicopter to give me, and I can still visualize in my mind what it looked like.


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

I really don't recall particular single event.  I need to focus to come up with the right answer.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

Being in the hospital for a week after an eye operation. I was four or five. My mum visited every day and gave me her black handbag to keep with me. She brought me sweets on each visit. I stored them in her handbag and brought them all home with me when I got out.


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

My dad painting the bedroom I shared with my sister. I was not quite four years old. He painted a mouse hole along the base board, a plant with flowers, butterflies, and an inchworm, a mushroom house, and a beautiful tree with many different kinds of birds sitting on the branches. There are other memories that might be earlier but I am no longer sure if I really remember them or remember looking at the color slides and talking about them. I wish we had pictures of that room!

The earliest dream I remember was from when I was four years old. At the time, I was trying to learn to float on my back in the pool but my feet kept sinking and then I would go under water. I dreamed that I was trying to float but that I could see myself while I was in the pool. This let me figure out how to float in my dream. The next time we went to the pool, I tried what I had done in my dream and I have been able to float ever since.   I still solve problems in my dreams but the problems are not as much fun.


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

I still can't float on my back.  I guess I'll have to try dreaming about it!


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## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

Riding my tricycle down a long hallway into the kitchen and hitting the kitchen table with my head. Someone washing it and a big bowl of blood!


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

My dad and I walking up to a Caldor (yes, I am dating myself). A lady was out front, giving away yellow lab puppies. We went home with one. She was my best friend for sixteen years.


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Pulling a black fish out of the fishtank on the verandah of our Thailand house.  I got in big trouble from my dad.  I'm pretty amazed I managed to grab it actually.  Not bad reflexes for a 3 year old.


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

There's a story about being a 'staircase surfer' in my book (see below).  I certainly spent many months cautiously easing myself down from step to step.  I yearned for a bungalow


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## deanfromaustralia (Mar 24, 2011)

Watching a caterpillar making a cocoon on the pavement outside the back door of my house. I was splashing away in a paddling pool and I stopped to look at this 'thing' crawling across the path. It was a surreal moment - the first moment.


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## Joyce DeBacco (Apr 24, 2010)

Interesting question, Phil. My earliest memory is standing in my playpen tossing toys out of it and having a great time. I think that's when I learned about cause and effect because when the playpen was empty, I realized I had nothing left to play with. I couldn't have been more than a year old at the time.

Another memory is sitting in my high chair and being forced to eat green beans, which I despise even today. I got the great idea to drop them over the side of the tray to the floor to get rid of them. They were gone, weren't they? So that should make Mom happy. Then she pointed to the beans on the floor, and I looked over the side. Surprise! They're not gone just because you throw them overboard.

Looking back on it now, I can see just how little minds grow and learn.

Joyce


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## Doug DePew (Mar 26, 2011)

I remember swinging in our backyard in Arnold, Missouri. We moved from there when I was around three to a tiny town called Cherryville, Missouri (pop. 47). I've described the yard, and my mom agrees. I remember it. 

I also remember the maroon LeMans we had. We sold it when we moved to the farm and bought a blue Gremlin...with Levi seats!!


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I remember I was sitting in my stroller and we were at a farm with sheep in the fields. My older sister was standing next to me and a woman who was showing the sheep to us, gave a teddy bear to my sister. I remember looking at my sister hugging the toy and wondering why I didn't get one. My mother said that incident took place in upstate New York at a friend's farm and she's astounded that I remember it since I was less than a year old at the time.


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## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

You guys all have happy memories.  My parents divorced when I was about 2 years old.  My earliest memory is of them having an argument, we had been to town and he was accusing her of meeting someone there.  He had her backed up against the wall and I was standing in the doorway watching.  I can remember knowing he was wrong, she hadn't met anyone else.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

I remember coming down some stairs holding my fathers hand and he showed me my new sister just born. Since there were two and a half years between us, that is how old I was.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

PG4003 (Patricia) said:


> You guys all have happy memories.


Well, my memory was of falling off of a changing table. 

Dawn


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

PG4003 (Patricia) said:


> You guys all have happy memories.


My first memoriear are all about being in a hospital. Fear, pain, bright lights, that horrible hospital smell, nurses being really nice to me.
Which is a shame because I know I was taken to beautiful places and all sort of nice things were done for my entertainment (and there are pictures to prove it) - and I remember nothing of it!


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## AnneKAlbert (Dec 7, 2010)

Standing at the screen door of my grandparent's farm house (that's no longer there). It was cold evening in early December when my parents brought my newborn sister home from the hospital. I was 3-1/2 years old.


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## EGranfors (Mar 18, 2011)

Being angry that I couldn't ride my trike around the block when my brother rode his bike around the block all the time.  I'm sure I was two.  We were in Kassel, Germany, where my father was in charge of the trains to Berlin for the US Army.


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## philwhiteland (Mar 13, 2011)

We've got a real mixed bag of memories here, haven't we?  Some heart-warming, some quite painful.  I guess it should make us all realise just how likely it is that the small person in the room might just be absorbing everything that's going on, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time?


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## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

My first memory was realizing that I'd just made my first memory.  

Actually, I think my first memory was being held in my mum's arms and my aunt giving me my teddy bear...I was a few months old, I think.


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## Tippy (Dec 8, 2008)

Getting my head stuck between the bars of the crib.


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