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Remembering Childhood .. Or Not

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theshadowoftheliving

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How much of your childhood can you remember? I'm missing parts of mine. No memories except some flash-bulb ones from before about 9, no memories of being at home at all until about sixth grade (seem to be able to remember things that happened at school, though). The memories I do have are non-linear. I date them according to how big or small I look (since they are all third-person) and things like haircuts.

I'm just wondering because I don't know if this is normal or not.
 
OMG-I am currently going through this too-I don't remember much if anything before the age of 8. (Except for 1 SA incident) I lived in a trailer until age 8 and I can't even remember a holiday or where I slept or a pet. Nothing! It's really bothering me. I looked for pictures and most are after we moved into house.

Again it's bothering me too-
 
No childhood abuse.

All of it, or mostly anyway, as I'm not eidetic... From about age 2 onward. A few scattered memories before that.

***

In the US the average age to start remembering things linearly has been age 5 for the past few generations // aka when life takes a major change for the first time (kindergarten). Now that most kids are in preschool / daycare? Those numbers will probably shift around some... As the average age people start remembering changes by location/culture... And is strongly correlated to both major change -like starting school- & memory refreshing / people actively reminding you of past events, like the way kindergarten is referenced consistently throughout grade school years by teachers and classmates. In countries where the average age is 4/5/6/7? That's usually also the year schooling becomes compulsory. Military families, meanwhile, who move countries every 1-2 years the average age is 2 or 3.

Memory is a very fluid thing. There isn't a "normal", exactly, more like trends. Not remembering your childhood at all? Is usually indicative of major trauma OR major change that becomes static. Like moving countries, or major climates, once. Everything that doesn't fit with the "now" (Japan vs Spain, or tropical to glacial), tends to fade away for most people and become hazy / surreal / unreal / forgotten... Unless there are a lot of regular reminders. But people who keep moving tend to compartmentalize memories, instead of losing the ones that don't make sense in the current context. This happened there, that happened then, etc.
 
How much of your childhood can you remember? I'm missing parts of mine. No memories except...
I am at the point where I do not want to remember any additional moments of my childhood anymore, I have spent enough time on these matters and now knowing what happened I have no need to go further in this. I think that any additional info from my childhood could be so explosive that it very possibly could send me into a huge meltdown.
 
Some people are good at recalling details, they can relate stories about interesting things that have happened to their friends. I don't. I don't often remember details, what I do remember are the emotions and what I was thinking. I remember a lot from my early years While I have images to go with them, I mostly remember what I was thinking or feeling. Panic, confusion, pain etc.
 
Mine is non-linear too. According to my T, a lot of people have that kind of memory. He also says that most people experience normal memories in what I think of as the third person, like they're watch themselves. (For some reason, I don't remember anything any way other than first person, present tense, and the idea of watching yourself seems deeply creepy.)
 
Mine is non-linear too. According to my T, a lot of people have that kind of memory. He also says that...
Mine depend on what it is. Good memory, no. Bad memory, yes. And if it's something being done to me I might know who it is but I can never "see" who it is.
 
I think it is typical, as much of it is mundane. How many memories can we have of playing with dolls and so on. Remembering milestones, maybe easier. Gaps due to traumatic repression are definitely different. I uncovered several forgotten traumas recently which has been extremely difficult to accept as truth. I am glad to know, tho, as it explains a great deal. Are there more? Maybe. Im not ready yet.
 
Wow @scout86 - 3rd party??? :eek: Yikes. Closest I have to that experience is FB's. :eek:

I can't remember most of my childhood. I did the 'spiritual exercises' through the lifespan, could only remember about 5 or 6 memories each (at most).

I can remember the tiniest of details of people's stories. I can't remember their name though. :rolleyes::(
 
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