Do your "older" kids remember what they used to think when they were younger?

[LynnS6]

Ds is 9, and will often pipe up with things that he used to think when he was 3-4.

Tonight when we driving home, he said "You know that sign that says "Findley Memorial Park"? I  used to think it said "Finely Memorial Park" when I was younger, like in Kindergarten."

About a year ago, when we saw a large orange traffic 'cones', he said "I used to call those 'pumpkins'." He was right - he did, and I remember being really confused by it. Be he hadn't done that since he was 3!

And the other day he said "You know those radio towers? When daddy told me they belonged to the radio station were A & K's dad works, I thought he actually worked in the towers!" Again this was a false belief that he had when he was 3-4.

I can barely remember much of my life at all when I was 3-4, let alone things that I had gotten wrong! He comes up with something like this once a month or so, and it's really interesting to see him think about how his thinking has changed.

Is this typical? Ds is a bright (but not brilliant) kid, reflective and a bit of an 'out of the box' thinker. I'm not seeing how this ability is going to make him millions, so it really is just plain curiosity on my part. If other kids are like this, I'll quit being so amazed.

[teachma]

My seven-year old, yes but my ten-year old, never. And when the 7-yr old (dd) says these things, I am always surprised. Not just at her memory, but also at the depth of her thinking at a younger age and the way that, three or four years later, she can express the complexity of that prior experience in a much more detailed way than she ever could have at the age of three. And finally, I am sometimes alarmed by the stories she shares because they are almost like "secrets" she hasn't divulged until now. Recent example: When we recently set the clocks ahead and daylight extended into the evening, dd breathed her annual sigh of relief. She has always been afraid of dark nights. But the event prompted her to recall when she was almost three, the first winter we lived in our current house, and how she would always walk through our family room and kitchen in a certain, funny little path around the island and seemingly purposeful, but out of the way. Dh and I used to laugh and wonder about her unusual habit of taking a circuitous route rather than the direct path. Well, fast-forward to two weeks ago, when she says, "Remember when I was little and I used to walk all the way around the island to get from the family room to the upstairs? Know why I used to do that?" And she proceeded to explain that out of the sliding glass doors to our deck, she used to catch glimpses of red headlights on a far-away street parallel to the woods in our backyard, and the red lights used to scare her because of their resemblance to wolves' eyes...so she walked that funny path to avoid a view of the yard! I was actually a little worried that for more than 4 years, she had kept this in and never shared. What other little secrets does that mind hold?

So yes, similar to your son, I suppose. And my ten-year old ds is the one with the perfect memory of everything, but it's different...

[laohaire]

My kid is only 5 but I personally have lots of these types of memories. Like I remember a time my parents said "let's go get ice cream sandwiches" and I was really confused imagining what they meant.

[Storm Bride]

DS1 doesn't comment on that kind of stuff much, but I know he does remember a lot of it. The one that makes him laugh is that he used to think that teenagers were idiots. And...now he's 18. :)

I remember a few things like that from when I was a kid. I remember, for some reason, getting the idea that slugs have multicoloured blood...like it would be a different colour if they were injured in a different part of the body, which shows that I lacked a grasp of how blood worked. I also remember someone explaining prostitution to me at an early age - about 6, I think - and they described it as women "selling their bodies" and then someone else said "more like renting". (I don't know who it was - someone visiting us, I think). For several years, I carried this mental image of "hookers" being people who rented their bodies out so that other people could use them for stuff...like aliens, or someone who was quadriplegic or something, using a healthy body for a few hours, so they could run, jump, etc. I guess I was destined to read SF.

[Juuulie]

My 15yo has been popping out with stuff like that for years. He remembers things I've completely forgotten. He is a very articulate kid in general, though, and maybe a little TOO good at expressing his feelings. 

[nextcommercial]

I can remember thinking weird things when I was little.  

I remember thinking the St Louis Arch followed us through the city.. it always seemed to be leaning towards us no matter where we drove.

I remember thinking Marshmallows came from a plant or a tree.  Like nuts.  

I thought Sesame Street was a real place in Chicago.  I had no idea there were other large cities besides Chicago and St Louis.  

[StoriesInTheSoil]

My child is only two but my 16 year old sister is the queen of this.

[AllisonR]

Originally Posted by nextcommercial 

I remember thinking Marshmallows came from a plant or a tree.  Like nuts.  

That's great. Thanks for sharing. 

I don't think either of mine do this, thou they are only 6 and 4, so who knows. It usually takes a photo or something until they decide to discuss past events, and it's normally stuff like "you remember when we went to XYZ on vacation and saw PDQ and ate 123..." Regular stuff, nothing really cool like marshmallow plants or red wolf eyes.

When DS was very young he commented on his birth thou, specifically the waters falling down and the "snake" being cut off. It was a horrifically traumatic birth for both of us, so no surprise he remembered it. But normally, no, my kids don't tend to say "remember when I thought X and now I know Y."

[SpaceAngel401]

I do not have children, but I remember many things I thought as a small child.

Golf balls contain small bombs.

If you stick out your tongue when you plug something in, you will get shocked.

Babies rode in backwards carseats so nobody could see them.

If sweat gets in your eyes, you will go blind (which is why joggers wear sweatbands)

There was a used car dealership called Bob K. Cars. I was convinced that Bob K. was the father of my nursery school friend Jason K.

[meemee]

aaaaaah memory.

i have lots of theories about this.

yes dd does remember. what's funny is she remembers what i dont and i remember what she doesnt.

i have also noticed she remembers more thing within a few years.

also if it was a 'huge' thing she would remember very clearly.

when she was 3 and we went back to asia she remembers something back from when we were there when she was 9 months old. its coz she is not used to seeing such giant tall houses with extremely high ceilings and huge rooms. she didnt want to go visit that aunt because of how open her house was. 

i remember myself my first memory, when i was about 6 months old. and then i dont remember anything else till i was about 4. 

dd remembers from a few years ago - like 4 or 5, but not too much of  2 or 3 except one or three things.