Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Memory is a strange thing that sometimes plays with us like we're poker cards, slipping some memories in and deftly removing others, sometimes at the most inopportune moment. Moreover, it is memory that largely makes us who we are - after all, in fact, who is a person, if not a combination of knowledge, skills and memories?
Modern researchers believe that the earliest memories available to humans date from around 3 to 3.5 years of age. Of course, sometimes there are exceptions up to two years or even younger, but this happens very, very rarely. And still, the very first childhood memories are what remain with us forever.
Even in extremely old age, we can forget how we celebrated our graduation, which football team we devotedly supported for all that time, what job we spent the best years of our life doing - but until the very last days, what will remain with us? The warm smell of mom's hair, the feeling of dad's huge hand in which the little kid's palm is literally hidden, or the rough tongue of a beloved dog, with which we used to play at the very dawn of our childhood.
There is a popular and incredibly nostalgic thread in the AskReddit community where the author once asked, "What is your earliest memory?" Now, almost three years after it all started, the thread has racked up over 44.5K upvotes and almost 18K different comments, many of which are a treasure trove of human memory.
Bored Panda has compiled a list of the most popular, interesting and heartbreaking memories for you, so now please feel free to scroll to the very end and be sure to share your own childhood memory gems in the comments on this collection. After all, what is any tale, any narrative, if not revived memories of us, people?
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I'm about 3½ years old, and my dad wakes me up in the absolute dead of night and tells me to come down and watch TV. My mom's like "just let the kid sleep" but my dad says "no, this is important". Turns out, some guys have just landed on the moon and are about to go for a walk.
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Wow! Lucky you people were in the sixties. Man landed on the moon and what not. Wish I was born then
RELATED:
#2
I remember my grandfather letting me sit on his lap while he played poker with a bunch of other grandpas - and they let me eat all of the cookies I wanted. They smoked cigars and made faces at me. I remember thinking it was hilarious. All of my earliest memories are of him. He was always happy to see me and would pick me up and laugh.
He died when I was 4.
Jessica Ehle 2 years ago
Aww, I’m glad that you have some nice memories of him. My grandma died when I was 6 and I wish I had more memories of her.
#3
Sitting in one of those chairs where they feed you. I remember just being happy, and pure. My mom was feeding me, and my dad was sitting on a couch across me.
I remember them smiling, and I remember being filled with love, no actual thoughts, just pure love for my parents. I think about that once in a while.
#4
My parents took me to the park. Now, my mum is terrified of birds, including ducks. As in, she will scream if they come near her. I remember suddenly a flock of ducks, swans, geese, all of those water birds, suddenly coming towards us. My mum? She let go of my hand and ran off screaming. My dad? Went after my mum. Me? Well, I became duck food.
#5
Can't remember the age this happened, but I remember feeling really sick for some unspecific reason. I told my mom and she went out to grab medicine for me at the local pharmacy. I really can't remember what symptoms I was feeling or what she intended to grab to help me.
While she was out, I started feeling much better and felt bad that I made her go out and get medicine. I remember waiting for what felt like an eternity, sitting at the bottom of our stairs by our front door waiting for her to get home. When she got home I apologized because I told her I felt okay again and felt bad she ran out just to get something to help me.
She didn't care. She was just happy that I didn't feel sick anymore.
April Stephens 2 years ago
Sweet. Often, the relief of knowing that someone is about to do something to help me makes me feel better immediately when I am sick/hurt. Makes sense.
#6
My 1-year-younger-than-me cousin was watching me eat a lollipop and got so confused when it was inside my mouth. She kept asking where it went! Then I took it out and showed her. Then I put it back in my mouth and she asked me again where it went. I was 3. She still my best friend 39 years later.
#7
My mom was spoon-feeding my infant brother and she dropped the spoon in a bowl of soup. I thought it was gone forever in an infinite ocean of soup, and I was amazed when she got it back out. I think that was me learning object permanence
#8
I would have between between 2-3 years old.
I had always remembered it as an out of body experience. I was at my grandma's house walking around the pool alone (I know, it didn't take long for mum to find out and ban unsupervised visits with grandma) and I fell in, I remember it as if I was reaching in and saving myself from drowning somehow. It's really hard to explain.
I told mum about this in the last few years and it turns out I was actually saving my brother from drowning, but it had also happened to me and she thinks I must have merged the memories somehow.
genevieve.delangie 2 years ago
there has to be some weird brain thingy that makes this happen! can anyone explain this to me?
#9
I woke up in my parents bedroom. The window was brighter than usual so I looked outside. It was snowing.
#10
Being swung very fast into the air and onto my dad’s shoulders.
I was 2 and had made friends with a baby swan (by grabbing its neck). Mama swan wasn’t having it and chased us out of the park.
Edit for clarity: Yes, he swung me up onto his shoulders so we could sprint out of the park with the swan on our heels. Fun fact, swans have good memories and every time we went to the park in the year after she chased us out all over again!
Susan Atkinson 2 years ago
Yeah, Swans are beautiful but not that bright. They do have an extraordinary memory.
#11
During WW2 I was about 8 months old and couldn't walk or talk.
I was put in my cot and was bored, so I worked out how to climb out of one corner of the cot. I slid down to the floor and crawled along the carpet to the stairs. The stairs had carpet held in place with brass rods.
I climbed down two flights of stairs to the hall. The hall had cold linoleum on the floor. I crawled into the kitchen where my mother found me.
She carried me upstairs and put me back into the cot and she hid behind the bedroom door. I climbed out of the cot immediately. She was laughing and saying things that I couldn't understand. She put me back in the cot and I went to sleep.
When I grew up I became a mountain climber! I have climbed many of the mountains in my country. I have met Sir Edmund Hillary several times. He was in my club, and climbed Mt Everest and drove to the South Pole in a farm tractor (which took him 3 months)
Julia Mckinney 2 years ago
Wow, what a life you've led! Make sure you write some of these memories down for others to read (or if you have already done so, I'd like to know the name of the book).
#12
When I was little I guess I got pink eye. My mother was trying to get me to calm down to have eye drops but I think I took it as a game for her to chase me.
The only thing I really remember is my mother grabbing me and slam-dunking me onto the carpet; she held me down with her forearm and forced some eye drops in my eye while I just was still laughing and screaming.
I would like to believe that my mom RKO’d so hard I gained consciousness.
Kathy Rayborn 2 years ago
Quick tip: parents don’t need to pry eyes open and squeeze drops into eye. Just place them in the indented well in the corner and keep your child’s head stationary. As soon as they open their eyes, the drops will flow in. Thanks to Dr. Matt Kuluz for that pro tip.
#13
I was 3 years old and playing with a toy cow in the living room of my old house. My grandma’s poodle was there and I have no idea why, but I remember putting the cow down and sticking my pinky in the dog’s mouth. He lightly nipped me and I remember feeling how pointy his teeth were. I wasn’t hurt, just startled enough to learn not to do dumb s**t like that again.
#14
Walking up to a stranger on a ferry that was wearing the same (very obscure) jumper as my dad, hugging him and loudly proclaiming "daddy I saw a dolphin!"
genevieve.delangie 2 years ago
aw i remember the times i did this! it’s so embarrassing but way funnier looking back on it.
#15
Siiiigh.... alright one of my best friends tells this story to anyone that will listen, but my earliest memory Is of sitting on the bathroom floor while my mom was changing her tampon. My dad came in and yelled “what are you doing?!” And she said, “he’s not going to remember.” *earliest clear memory. I think the earliest was of a drawing of a goat on a wall.
#16
Me picking my nose, looking around and not finding anything to wipe it with, and then sticking the booger back in.
My dad watched the whole thing. He laughed.
#17
I faked swallowing a rock when I was 5 to leave kindergarten, then I confessed when my mom and I were at the hospital about to get x Ray.
#18
I was young. Uncertain of my age but I knew I was young. Tiny. In a house I barely recognized. I'd woken up and just remember asking "why" to myself. It didn't make much sense. I was so curious. I looked outside and saw the tree in my back yard obscuring the sunlight, shining a sunbeam directly onto my dog Shuffles. I remember thinking how it looked so nice. Why did it look nice? The sun is hot. It just did.
I walked into the living room. Mom and dad were mumbling things I couldn't understand. The window was letting in more sunlight on the carpet near the tv. I remembered Shuffles. I laid down in the sunbeam and curled up.
It felt nice. It felt peaceful. I remember thinking
'Yeah. That's why it looked nice. It is.'
#19
I was 2 years old and having kidney surgery, and I woke up half way through my surgery because the epidural came out of my spine (they had snapped the needle in my spine on the first go, which was great). I remember seeing them working on me, freaking out (as you do), and I managed to rip the line out of my hand which was pissing out with blood. I remember the excruciating pain that came with all of it as the epidural wore off. I remember pretty much my entire hospital stay, and damn near everything since then.
#20
Being told to go for a nap (I was around 2-3 at the time), & I refused because I wanted to keep playing & was being defiant. My Dad repeatedly put me in my bed and said that I'll feel better if I lied down for a bit. I fell asleep and he woke me up 2 hours later. And shocker, I felt better. Lol.
#21
Standing on the couch and consciously s******g my diaper
#22
I was too little and used to crawl on all 4 limbs. I remember my dad took me to a clinic. There I noticed someone crossing the legs for the first time. He was reading a newspaper. I was damn confused about his legs, I wanted to ask my dad, but had no words.
#23
I was 2 years old and wouldn't allow my cousin to go near my baby sister. She was MY sister.
Soozie Poozie 2 years ago
That's sweet. I can relate. When I was 3 years old, my friend who was an only child wanted to "share" my newborn sister. I thought she was going to cut her in half! I adamantly refused to share and wouldn't let her go near my sister!
#24
Trying to drink a cup of water while lying flat on my back in the crib. Water splashed all over my face, of course, and while I was preverbal, my thoughts can be best translated as "Well, let's not do THAT again."
NannyChachi 2 years ago (edited)
My 4 children shared a bedroom when they were little. They slept 2 in each twin bed. When it was bedtime they would lay on their backs and I'd drizzle a tiny bit of water from a cup held up high into their mouths. They thought this was the funniest thing. Especially when I "missed" and water landed on their foreheads or cheeks.
#25
Middle of the night. ~3 Y.O. at the time. Woke up and vomited in my bed and all over myself. Started crying because I got sick, it was gross, and I was afraid I would get in trouble if I woke everyone up by going to the bathroom. So, I sat there crying in my puke until it woke up mom and she got me cleaned up.
Purplescales 2 years ago (edited)
It’s sad how we fear awakening our caregivers when sick because we expect to be punished for existing.
#26
Standing in my mom's room, asking her what my name was.
Valerie G. 2 years ago
If you were 2-3 that would be acceptable but over 5, we have a problem.
#27
Peeing on my sisters bed and blaming it on the dog.
#28
Getting a Postman Pat beanbag chair at my Pizza Hut birthday party. Life has never been so good since.
#29
My sister headdiving down the stairs when I was 2. Watched her from the bottom. She was fine, though.
#30
When my mum was pregnant with my brother, I could then beat her in races from the car to the front door.
What do you think ?
JLN 2 years ago
My earliest memory was a few months before I turned 3. My Nana and Popa (grandparents) took me to the theatre to see The Great Muppet Caper. I was too small for the seats and it kept folding up on me so my Popa had to hold it down the whole time. I remember Miss Piggy riding her motorcycle through the stained glass window. They've both been gone 15 years now and I love that they are my first memory
Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)
2 yr.-10 mo. - Driving a “long time” in the back seat of a car, in the late evening, to a farm. Returned home with an astonishing PUPPY, who rode in a box on my mothers lap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3 yr.-1 mo.) The hour span where I remember dad making me a special breakfast on the formica kitchen table (crowding my plate) because mum/mom was gone … then, going to a park, where I still sense the color green in my mind, ... moving very slowly on a merry-go-round and watching my brother topple off and “eat dirt”/face plant as my dad turned his attention towards me to say something. This was followed by meeting mum/mom and a new BABY brother outside the doors to a hospital (he was wrapped up and ... meh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I can "see" my surroundings and people, but the faces are blurred. I also remember snippets of what was said, ("Remember we talked about mom being gone" -- I didn't.)
Andrew 2 years ago
~3 years old picking out a cat at the Coos Bay pound. Had her until I was 18
Lisa H 2 years ago
3 years old. Bay Area, California. I'm in the grocery store with my dad, sitting in the grocery cart. Suddenly, there was a violent jerk, the lights started flickering and going out. I see people ducking and looking around. Items are shaking and falling off the shelves. I look at my dad and he's hovering over me, trying to protect me from falling objects as he's running out to the car. I wasn't scared, though, just confused. This was in 1989. Turns out, this was California's infamous Loma Prieta earthquake that killed a lot of people, injured many more and destroyed half the Bay Area.
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
I'm not sure if it's my earliest memory but it probably is. I was sitting at the window in my parents' loungeroom, looking outside. I remember it was very sunny, and my mouth really hurt. I now know it's because I had contracted facial herpes (or coldsores, as we call them) and my mouth was full of nasty blisters. Luckily that was the only time I had them that badly. I also remember the time I decided to do some handpainting... on my bedroom wall. And when I tried to hide the evidence I wasn't strong enough to turn on the tap, so I tried "innocently" asking Dad to do it while hiding my paint covered hands behind my back! It must have been right after we moved into the house I grew up in, because he was outside paving the front verandah at the time. We still talk about that little episode. XD
Trentin Quarantino 2 years ago
My first memory is of trying to get to my mother while a door was closing. As it closed she was there, when it opened she was gone. I later discovered that this was my first experience of an elevator, when my mother was in hospital to give birth to one of my brothers. It freaked me out at the time. Like many people here, I must have been about 3.
Mary Kay Mann 2 years ago (edited)
My earliest memory was when I was 3. My mom was preparing Thanksgiving dinner. She had set the cranberry jelly on the table, then set a bowl of gravy fresh off the stove next to it. I wanted that cranberry jelly, so I climbed onto a chair and reached over the gravy to get it. The gravy toppled over, pouring all down the front of me. She rushed me to the hospital. I remember going into shock on the way there and being glad because the pain stopped. Spent some time in the burn unit, then going back there for iodine baths each week after that to be debrided. Good first memory. 😉
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Earliest memory is when I was young and picked at a scab on my knee and had an epiphany where i suddenly learnt the meaning of “boring” and felt like I was number one. Another memory is of me pulling my father’s hair and thinking “oops”’ as he looked angry
AsexualShrimp 2 years ago
my earliest memory is when i was around 4, and i think i was trying to learn how to tie my shoes on the garage steps, and i just could not do it. i remember just chucking the shoes as far as i can and the feeling of utter frustration
Black Pearl 2 years ago
All I remember is sitting in the living room in my old house at 3 years old when suddenly my mind just became clearer and I realized I was thinking and stuff. I'm not sure how to describe it tbh.
Jasam Nitko 2 years ago
I was two years and four months. It was grandma's birthday and fighter jets flew over her house. It scared me stiff and I still feel sick when I hear fighter jets. It's also one of the things the adults that were there remember differently. The accounts differ on how low the planes flew, who picked me up, and if they walked or ran.
Aubrie Allen 2 years ago
My first memory was being being put in the back window of my parents car at the drive in seeing Ghostbusters. I was 3.
Mabelbabel 2 years ago (edited)
My earliest memory was pinching my sisters tricycle and heading off down the garden path. I was almost 3 at the time, and it was my one-year-older sister's tricycle. I didn't know how to steer or break, and I hit an uneven flag stone which made me fly over the handlebar and plant myself facedown on the path. I split my lip open and 50 years later I still have the scar.
MedusaWasBeautiful 2 years ago
My earliest memory was if me sitting, then crawling towards the door of the house. I was 1 and a few months.
Chrissyfox 2 years ago
I have a very distinct memory of floating in a beautiful pinkish light with yellow around the edges. Do I remember being in the womb? Guess I'll never know.
Joss 2 years ago
Mom says I was about 2-2 1/2 at the time of my earliest memory since I later described it to her. She and I were walking through a redwood forest (a small, forested part of a nice park with a path through it, but it felt like a big forest as a kid) and I was balancing on fallen logs and we had a thermos of cocoa to share, but Mom wouldn't let me have cocoa unless I was sitting down, which was really frustrating and probably why I remember that walk in particular. I wanted to drink it while walking. I'm still not super coordinated and honestly probably would have spilled it all over myself and been sad and messy and out of cocoa, so I'll concede it was a reasonable condition, but I was not happy about it at the time.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 2 years ago
I was barely 4 riding a tricycle and older sister a 2 wheeler. I wanted to ride a 2 wheeler so sister (7) sat me on the bottom bar (too small to reach the petals otherwise) and a few minutes later I'm riding. Mom came & was astonished I could do it. Big sister's are the best
Marcellium 2 years ago
My earliest memory was sometime before i turned two. I was in a house with green walls, walking behind my mom who was following someone. There was pottery lining the walls on the floor. We went out a door and turned right, walking through a thin pathway through tall plants. We turned left, and we went into another building and we were surrounded by plants. it was beautiful. My Nana had a greenhouse. She was showing my mom around and I followed them. I remember it so clearly. :-)
Mansi Dule 2 years ago
I always recognize the sound of my father's motorcycle. I was so young at that time that used to sleep in a crib. Whenever my father come home after working I used to pretend ro sleep to fool him. After coming inside the house he used to take a look at me and say mom that I am not sleeping because if I was my hands/feet would have been shaking or swinging. I thought it was true and shake my hands/feet to make him believe that I am sleeping. My family still makes fun of me for this.
Lolly 2 years ago
My earliest memory was being in my pushchair in our back garden watching my older brothers jump on an old mattress that was at the side of the shed. I always used to think this was a dream because I was only 18 months old when we moved from that house and I never went back. Years later when I told my mum she couldn't believe I could remember it. She even remembered the mattress being put there and I drew a picture of the garden and how it looked and apparently it was right. Don't know how or why I remember it I just do
Puppy prints ️ 2 years ago (edited)
earliest memory was when I was 2-3. it was late and my mom was carrying our dog out to the car. my sister asked where he was going, I don’t remember what my mom said but he didn’t come back. I later found out that she took him to the vet because he was sick and the vet had to put him down. ……………………….. also, when i was 4, I remember going to the hospital because my mom was about to give birth. someone gave me a baby doll. I remember getting the doll but not when my little siblings was born. I also remember a few days later my grandma put a picture of them on the fridge at our house but again, I don’t remember them being born. my first memory of them is when my parents brought them home from the hospital.
XenoMurph 2 years ago
One of my earliest memories is finding my dad's shotgun and rifle, both loaded, and taking the cartridges and bullets out, and taking them apart to see what was inside. the powder made lots of sparkles when we sprinkled it on the fire.
sturmwesen 2 years ago
I have 3 before my third birthday:1. saving baby bunnies 2. catching tadpoles 3. my sister piercing her torso on a metal stick used for or near a clothing line fixture (she is fine)
Poppy 2 years ago
I remember when we lived in Australia, mum and dad had a party and I was awake for some reason (it was very late at night), I remember the yellow cotton nightie I was wearing. I remember everyone getting up to dance and me crawling on the floor seeing everyone's glasses on the floor I decided I wanted to drink all their cola. Only it wasn't cola, or just cola. I was a drunk 3 year old whirling around like a dervish.
Natalie Westby 2 years ago
My earliest memory is the smell of fresh biscuits being baked in the oven. My grandmother used to make them from scratch and I remember the smell waking me up. She died when I was 4 or 5 and I remember smelling the biscuits the day after her funeral. I thought she'd come back l.
Stannous Flouride 2 years ago
My two earliest memories are of the Rockford (IL) College Farm youth hostel where my my mom & dad were houseparents until we moved when I was about 20 months old. The first was sitting in my highchair looking at kitchen shelves covered with red checked oilcloth and jars of baby food and the second was wandering outside towards the cornfield behind the house. I remember the stalks looking huge, a wooden gate, and being scooped up by one of the farmhands who said, "What are you doing out here?" and being taken back inside. I'm sure I was preverbal and yet 68 years later I can still hear his voice in my mind.
Cassi Lyris 2 years ago
Most of these are so cute and happy. My earliest memories are definitely not... Really drives home how unpleasant my childhood home life actually was. 😞
Monsieur Plastique 2 years ago
I'm from Holland but my parents took me and my sisters to Disney World in Florida. I think I was about 3 years old and I remember some ventriloquist guy with a bird hand puppet who mesmerized me with it making me feel like it was my friend and being to happy because of it. The other one is me standing in front of (a decor front) Mickey Mouse's house and having a meltdown because he didn't open the door even though I knocked several times
L “Lonecl0ud” D 2 years ago
Backseat of a 98 crown vic, my dad was driving, which was odd since the crown vic was my mom's. We were following a flashing, wailing ambulance. Turns out my little sister was in there. She snuck into the kitchen and knocked over somethings that lead to just made boiling soup falling on her little two year old arm. My mom was in there with her, which is why dad was driving instead. My second memory is maybe an hour later, in the hospital room, seeing what essentially a gaping bubbled maw of an arm on my sister. I don't remember anything else than those two snapshots.
Maple Porkly 2 years ago
I've blocked out most of my childhood due to PTSD but I remember my little brother coming home from the hospital and my dad talking to his friends that he finally had a kid to be proud of. I was two and a half but it still hurt. I remember snip-its of neglect from my parents that worsened when my second brother was born. Fast forward to my adult years and being introduced to some of my dad's friends he's known for decades. All of them have the same reaction of "I didn't know you had a daughter".
1.21Gigawatts?! 2 years ago
I’d say mine is that me and my sister and father were visiting my mom in the hospital (I forget what for but I think it might’ve been cancer but don’t quote me on that) and we shared a box of cookies or something. Back then I didn’t know why mom was in the hospital
Mickie Boldt 2 years ago
I remember being a teenager and telling my mom of this dream I had. I was really small (18 months) and my middle brother was a baby. So mom was cradling him and holding on to a small suitcase in one hand and holding my hand with the other. We were trudging through, what, to my tiny legs, seemed to be very deep snow. We were walking from one train to another, as apparently the first one was stuck in the snow. Then a man came up to us and asked mom if she would like some help (this was the early 50's - chivalry not yet dead!). He took the suitcase and picked me up and got us on the train. Now, as I'm telling her this, her face keeps getting this weird look and her eyes getting bigger. When I was done, she told me that it wasn't a dream - it really happened!!! 😳
A Jones 2 years ago
I think some of my earliest memories were before I turned 2. One was watching Nickelodeon with cereal, another is running around laughing with a full nappy. I also remember one of my deeper thoughts that I enjoyed being a tot and wasn't looking forward to school in a few years. i had older sibling that didn't hesitate to vent. ngl
Jackie Lulu 2 years ago
I was 2 and a half or so and I remember my mom went out on the back porch to get something and I shut the door and it accidentally locked. She was out there in the cold in her nightie. She tried to coach me to unlock it but I didn't understand about turning the lock and my little hands couldn't turn the doorknob. She had to walk around to the front door and get the landlord to open the door.
Diane Aguilar 2 years ago
My earliest memory involved being a baby, maybe a little over a year old, where my mother took me to JC Penney to get my picture taken. I remember assuming my mom put me in a dress because she wanted me to look pretty while running errands, being overwhelmed by all the new sights and sounds because we'd never been inside that particular part of JC Penney, being carried to a back room with dark walls, shag carpeting, bright lights, a camera, and a man standing beside the camera, my mom putting me down in front of the camera, the man showing me this teddy bear he was carrying, me trying my best to keep myself from crying all the while, seeing the teddy bear and having my heart leap, and that being the catalyst for my beginning to cry. I was deeply embarrassed by that because I was trying so hard to be good and I truly loved stuffed animals, but that emotional dam just broke and I believe the man successfully calmed me down before continuing to take more photos.
Seadog 2 years ago
About 4. On the way to Myrtle Beach with my aunt and uncle. Stop at a place which had the first outdoor vending machines I'd ever seen. Got a candy bar, took one bite and said "mine's got worms in it." Of course, spit it out and they threw the candy away after notifying the attendant. The kicker? Man standing there with 1 bite left. His was full of them too.
Jordi Sharpe 2 years ago
My earliest memory is a dream I had when I was around 3 or 4. We were driving in our red family van along the Sea-to-Sky Highway when the side door flew open and I was pulled out, holding onto the side by my fingers like I was in an action movie or something.
Alana Voeks 2 years ago
How is everyone remembering things before long term memory is supposed to be a thing in our brains? My first memory was from when I was 4 or so and playing with my cat with a string toy. I only remember it as a picture, even though none were ever taken of that moment
Oliver Coine 2 years ago
I was 4. All I remember was sitting behind my mother's chair in the car and asking her where we were going. She replied,"We're going to Walmart, you just asked me that!" I do not recall asking the first time so I "woke up" to do it again 😂
Danielle Ocasio Fast 2 years ago
TIL my memory stinks 😂 I Think my first, clear, memory was from when my youngest sister was born and the neighbor watched me and my other sister...I was almost 5. The memory is of someone jumping on a pogo stick... All I see is their lower half as they jump on the sidewalk. I can see grass behind them and then the street past the grass. I can't think of another memory as clear as this one until 5th grade (@10 years old). In the time between I don't have very many memories... And any memories I Do have are pretty fuzzy.
JLN 2 years ago
My earliest memory was a few months before I turned 3. My Nana and Popa (grandparents) took me to the theatre to see The Great Muppet Caper. I was too small for the seats and it kept folding up on me so my Popa had to hold it down the whole time. I remember Miss Piggy riding her motorcycle through the stained glass window. They've both been gone 15 years now and I love that they are my first memory
Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)
2 yr.-10 mo. - Driving a “long time” in the back seat of a car, in the late evening, to a farm. Returned home with an astonishing PUPPY, who rode in a box on my mothers lap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3 yr.-1 mo.) The hour span where I remember dad making me a special breakfast on the formica kitchen table (crowding my plate) because mum/mom was gone … then, going to a park, where I still sense the color green in my mind, ... moving very slowly on a merry-go-round and watching my brother topple off and “eat dirt”/face plant as my dad turned his attention towards me to say something. This was followed by meeting mum/mom and a new BABY brother outside the doors to a hospital (he was wrapped up and ... meh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I can "see" my surroundings and people, but the faces are blurred. I also remember snippets of what was said, ("Remember we talked about mom being gone" -- I didn't.)
Andrew 2 years ago
~3 years old picking out a cat at the Coos Bay pound. Had her until I was 18
Lisa H 2 years ago
3 years old. Bay Area, California. I'm in the grocery store with my dad, sitting in the grocery cart. Suddenly, there was a violent jerk, the lights started flickering and going out. I see people ducking and looking around. Items are shaking and falling off the shelves. I look at my dad and he's hovering over me, trying to protect me from falling objects as he's running out to the car. I wasn't scared, though, just confused. This was in 1989. Turns out, this was California's infamous Loma Prieta earthquake that killed a lot of people, injured many more and destroyed half the Bay Area.
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
I'm not sure if it's my earliest memory but it probably is. I was sitting at the window in my parents' loungeroom, looking outside. I remember it was very sunny, and my mouth really hurt. I now know it's because I had contracted facial herpes (or coldsores, as we call them) and my mouth was full of nasty blisters. Luckily that was the only time I had them that badly. I also remember the time I decided to do some handpainting... on my bedroom wall. And when I tried to hide the evidence I wasn't strong enough to turn on the tap, so I tried "innocently" asking Dad to do it while hiding my paint covered hands behind my back! It must have been right after we moved into the house I grew up in, because he was outside paving the front verandah at the time. We still talk about that little episode. XD
Trentin Quarantino 2 years ago
My first memory is of trying to get to my mother while a door was closing. As it closed she was there, when it opened she was gone. I later discovered that this was my first experience of an elevator, when my mother was in hospital to give birth to one of my brothers. It freaked me out at the time. Like many people here, I must have been about 3.
Mary Kay Mann 2 years ago (edited)
My earliest memory was when I was 3. My mom was preparing Thanksgiving dinner. She had set the cranberry jelly on the table, then set a bowl of gravy fresh off the stove next to it. I wanted that cranberry jelly, so I climbed onto a chair and reached over the gravy to get it. The gravy toppled over, pouring all down the front of me. She rushed me to the hospital. I remember going into shock on the way there and being glad because the pain stopped. Spent some time in the burn unit, then going back there for iodine baths each week after that to be debrided. Good first memory. 😉
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Earliest memory is when I was young and picked at a scab on my knee and had an epiphany where i suddenly learnt the meaning of “boring” and felt like I was number one. Another memory is of me pulling my father’s hair and thinking “oops”’ as he looked angry
AsexualShrimp 2 years ago
my earliest memory is when i was around 4, and i think i was trying to learn how to tie my shoes on the garage steps, and i just could not do it. i remember just chucking the shoes as far as i can and the feeling of utter frustration
Black Pearl 2 years ago
All I remember is sitting in the living room in my old house at 3 years old when suddenly my mind just became clearer and I realized I was thinking and stuff. I'm not sure how to describe it tbh.
Jasam Nitko 2 years ago
I was two years and four months. It was grandma's birthday and fighter jets flew over her house. It scared me stiff and I still feel sick when I hear fighter jets. It's also one of the things the adults that were there remember differently. The accounts differ on how low the planes flew, who picked me up, and if they walked or ran.
Aubrie Allen 2 years ago
My first memory was being being put in the back window of my parents car at the drive in seeing Ghostbusters. I was 3.
Mabelbabel 2 years ago (edited)
My earliest memory was pinching my sisters tricycle and heading off down the garden path. I was almost 3 at the time, and it was my one-year-older sister's tricycle. I didn't know how to steer or break, and I hit an uneven flag stone which made me fly over the handlebar and plant myself facedown on the path. I split my lip open and 50 years later I still have the scar.
MedusaWasBeautiful 2 years ago
My earliest memory was if me sitting, then crawling towards the door of the house. I was 1 and a few months.
Chrissyfox 2 years ago
I have a very distinct memory of floating in a beautiful pinkish light with yellow around the edges. Do I remember being in the womb? Guess I'll never know.
Joss 2 years ago
Mom says I was about 2-2 1/2 at the time of my earliest memory since I later described it to her. She and I were walking through a redwood forest (a small, forested part of a nice park with a path through it, but it felt like a big forest as a kid) and I was balancing on fallen logs and we had a thermos of cocoa to share, but Mom wouldn't let me have cocoa unless I was sitting down, which was really frustrating and probably why I remember that walk in particular. I wanted to drink it while walking. I'm still not super coordinated and honestly probably would have spilled it all over myself and been sad and messy and out of cocoa, so I'll concede it was a reasonable condition, but I was not happy about it at the time.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 2 years ago
I was barely 4 riding a tricycle and older sister a 2 wheeler. I wanted to ride a 2 wheeler so sister (7) sat me on the bottom bar (too small to reach the petals otherwise) and a few minutes later I'm riding. Mom came & was astonished I could do it. Big sister's are the best
Marcellium 2 years ago
My earliest memory was sometime before i turned two. I was in a house with green walls, walking behind my mom who was following someone. There was pottery lining the walls on the floor. We went out a door and turned right, walking through a thin pathway through tall plants. We turned left, and we went into another building and we were surrounded by plants. it was beautiful. My Nana had a greenhouse. She was showing my mom around and I followed them. I remember it so clearly. :-)
Mansi Dule 2 years ago
I always recognize the sound of my father's motorcycle. I was so young at that time that used to sleep in a crib. Whenever my father come home after working I used to pretend ro sleep to fool him. After coming inside the house he used to take a look at me and say mom that I am not sleeping because if I was my hands/feet would have been shaking or swinging. I thought it was true and shake my hands/feet to make him believe that I am sleeping. My family still makes fun of me for this.
Lolly 2 years ago
My earliest memory was being in my pushchair in our back garden watching my older brothers jump on an old mattress that was at the side of the shed. I always used to think this was a dream because I was only 18 months old when we moved from that house and I never went back. Years later when I told my mum she couldn't believe I could remember it. She even remembered the mattress being put there and I drew a picture of the garden and how it looked and apparently it was right. Don't know how or why I remember it I just do
Puppy prints ️ 2 years ago (edited)
earliest memory was when I was 2-3. it was late and my mom was carrying our dog out to the car. my sister asked where he was going, I don’t remember what my mom said but he didn’t come back. I later found out that she took him to the vet because he was sick and the vet had to put him down. ……………………….. also, when i was 4, I remember going to the hospital because my mom was about to give birth. someone gave me a baby doll. I remember getting the doll but not when my little siblings was born. I also remember a few days later my grandma put a picture of them on the fridge at our house but again, I don’t remember them being born. my first memory of them is when my parents brought them home from the hospital.
XenoMurph 2 years ago
One of my earliest memories is finding my dad's shotgun and rifle, both loaded, and taking the cartridges and bullets out, and taking them apart to see what was inside. the powder made lots of sparkles when we sprinkled it on the fire.
sturmwesen 2 years ago
I have 3 before my third birthday:1. saving baby bunnies 2. catching tadpoles 3. my sister piercing her torso on a metal stick used for or near a clothing line fixture (she is fine)
Poppy 2 years ago
I remember when we lived in Australia, mum and dad had a party and I was awake for some reason (it was very late at night), I remember the yellow cotton nightie I was wearing. I remember everyone getting up to dance and me crawling on the floor seeing everyone's glasses on the floor I decided I wanted to drink all their cola. Only it wasn't cola, or just cola. I was a drunk 3 year old whirling around like a dervish.
Natalie Westby 2 years ago
My earliest memory is the smell of fresh biscuits being baked in the oven. My grandmother used to make them from scratch and I remember the smell waking me up. She died when I was 4 or 5 and I remember smelling the biscuits the day after her funeral. I thought she'd come back l.
Stannous Flouride 2 years ago
My two earliest memories are of the Rockford (IL) College Farm youth hostel where my my mom & dad were houseparents until we moved when I was about 20 months old. The first was sitting in my highchair looking at kitchen shelves covered with red checked oilcloth and jars of baby food and the second was wandering outside towards the cornfield behind the house. I remember the stalks looking huge, a wooden gate, and being scooped up by one of the farmhands who said, "What are you doing out here?" and being taken back inside. I'm sure I was preverbal and yet 68 years later I can still hear his voice in my mind.
Cassi Lyris 2 years ago
Most of these are so cute and happy. My earliest memories are definitely not... Really drives home how unpleasant my childhood home life actually was. 😞
Monsieur Plastique 2 years ago
I'm from Holland but my parents took me and my sisters to Disney World in Florida. I think I was about 3 years old and I remember some ventriloquist guy with a bird hand puppet who mesmerized me with it making me feel like it was my friend and being to happy because of it. The other one is me standing in front of (a decor front) Mickey Mouse's house and having a meltdown because he didn't open the door even though I knocked several times
L “Lonecl0ud” D 2 years ago
Backseat of a 98 crown vic, my dad was driving, which was odd since the crown vic was my mom's. We were following a flashing, wailing ambulance. Turns out my little sister was in there. She snuck into the kitchen and knocked over somethings that lead to just made boiling soup falling on her little two year old arm. My mom was in there with her, which is why dad was driving instead. My second memory is maybe an hour later, in the hospital room, seeing what essentially a gaping bubbled maw of an arm on my sister. I don't remember anything else than those two snapshots.
Maple Porkly 2 years ago
I've blocked out most of my childhood due to PTSD but I remember my little brother coming home from the hospital and my dad talking to his friends that he finally had a kid to be proud of. I was two and a half but it still hurt. I remember snip-its of neglect from my parents that worsened when my second brother was born. Fast forward to my adult years and being introduced to some of my dad's friends he's known for decades. All of them have the same reaction of "I didn't know you had a daughter".
1.21Gigawatts?! 2 years ago
I’d say mine is that me and my sister and father were visiting my mom in the hospital (I forget what for but I think it might’ve been cancer but don’t quote me on that) and we shared a box of cookies or something. Back then I didn’t know why mom was in the hospital
Mickie Boldt 2 years ago
I remember being a teenager and telling my mom of this dream I had. I was really small (18 months) and my middle brother was a baby. So mom was cradling him and holding on to a small suitcase in one hand and holding my hand with the other. We were trudging through, what, to my tiny legs, seemed to be very deep snow. We were walking from one train to another, as apparently the first one was stuck in the snow. Then a man came up to us and asked mom if she would like some help (this was the early 50's - chivalry not yet dead!). He took the suitcase and picked me up and got us on the train. Now, as I'm telling her this, her face keeps getting this weird look and her eyes getting bigger. When I was done, she told me that it wasn't a dream - it really happened!!! 😳
A Jones 2 years ago
I think some of my earliest memories were before I turned 2. One was watching Nickelodeon with cereal, another is running around laughing with a full nappy. I also remember one of my deeper thoughts that I enjoyed being a tot and wasn't looking forward to school in a few years. i had older sibling that didn't hesitate to vent. ngl
Jackie Lulu 2 years ago
I was 2 and a half or so and I remember my mom went out on the back porch to get something and I shut the door and it accidentally locked. She was out there in the cold in her nightie. She tried to coach me to unlock it but I didn't understand about turning the lock and my little hands couldn't turn the doorknob. She had to walk around to the front door and get the landlord to open the door.
Diane Aguilar 2 years ago
My earliest memory involved being a baby, maybe a little over a year old, where my mother took me to JC Penney to get my picture taken. I remember assuming my mom put me in a dress because she wanted me to look pretty while running errands, being overwhelmed by all the new sights and sounds because we'd never been inside that particular part of JC Penney, being carried to a back room with dark walls, shag carpeting, bright lights, a camera, and a man standing beside the camera, my mom putting me down in front of the camera, the man showing me this teddy bear he was carrying, me trying my best to keep myself from crying all the while, seeing the teddy bear and having my heart leap, and that being the catalyst for my beginning to cry. I was deeply embarrassed by that because I was trying so hard to be good and I truly loved stuffed animals, but that emotional dam just broke and I believe the man successfully calmed me down before continuing to take more photos.
Seadog 2 years ago
About 4. On the way to Myrtle Beach with my aunt and uncle. Stop at a place which had the first outdoor vending machines I'd ever seen. Got a candy bar, took one bite and said "mine's got worms in it." Of course, spit it out and they threw the candy away after notifying the attendant. The kicker? Man standing there with 1 bite left. His was full of them too.
Jordi Sharpe 2 years ago
My earliest memory is a dream I had when I was around 3 or 4. We were driving in our red family van along the Sea-to-Sky Highway when the side door flew open and I was pulled out, holding onto the side by my fingers like I was in an action movie or something.
Alana Voeks 2 years ago
How is everyone remembering things before long term memory is supposed to be a thing in our brains? My first memory was from when I was 4 or so and playing with my cat with a string toy. I only remember it as a picture, even though none were ever taken of that moment
Oliver Coine 2 years ago
I was 4. All I remember was sitting behind my mother's chair in the car and asking her where we were going. She replied,"We're going to Walmart, you just asked me that!" I do not recall asking the first time so I "woke up" to do it again 😂
Danielle Ocasio Fast 2 years ago
TIL my memory stinks 😂 I Think my first, clear, memory was from when my youngest sister was born and the neighbor watched me and my other sister...I was almost 5. The memory is of someone jumping on a pogo stick... All I see is their lower half as they jump on the sidewalk. I can see grass behind them and then the street past the grass. I can't think of another memory as clear as this one until 5th grade (@10 years old). In the time between I don't have very many memories... And any memories I Do have are pretty fuzzy.
Related on Bored Panda
