What's your earliest memory?

[mmbt0ne]

Pretty much every "memory" from when you are a baby is an ingrained visual depiction of other people's explanations. It is very very very uncommon for children to remember things before they are able to explain things in conversation because they lack the ability to process and understand what's going on.

Also, because of this, it's not uncommon in Asian cultures for children to not remember much of anything until they are 5, 6 or even 7 years old.

[BukNaked36]

[ QUOTE ]
how the hell does everyone remember being two years old? my earliest memory is drawing a picture when i was probably 5 years old. beyond a couple other memories around that time, its pretty much blank until i hit about 7. I am 22 currently.

I think i have a pretty good memory otherwise actually. i guess i am supressing something?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have several VERY early memories. I remember potty training because my potty was shaped like a saddle (SWEEEEET). I remember sitting on a counter watching the sink overflow while my mom was distracted. I wanted to tell her, but I was to little to verbalize the issue. I just clapped and laughed. There's probably a few more, but I think the reaching into the mirror was the earliest.

[rustyboy]

i can remember my mom being very pregnant with my sister and showing me her belly, as well as my sister being born. I was 2 1/2.

I can also describe the house we lived in before that house. We moved out of there near my 2nd birthday. This may be one of the phantom deals, but there aren't enough pictures of the place for me to put as much as I have together.

[Aces McGee]

[ QUOTE ]
tripping on rebar and hitting the corner of fresh layed (but hardened) cement and knocking out 8 teeth when I was 3. still have the scare on my lip where one met resistance on exit (tooth won). remember it like it was yesterday

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine involves personal injury as well. I was either 4 or 5 -- my parents have never been good about remembering stuff like how old we were when certain events happened, so I've never been able to confirm which it was. I was playing a sissified version of Dukes of Hazzard in our garage, which is to say I was climbing out the window of our (parked) Subaru wagon, and onto the windshield because I was too afraid to jump out.

Being too afrad to jump, I decided that the best course of action would be slide down the windshield onto the hood, and down the hood and onto the ground. This plan worked well for approximately half a second, as before long, I slid over a jagged piece of metal where our car antenna had been snapped off - a detail I failed to notice when planning my route to the ground.

I distinctly remember the t-shirt I was wearing -- red, with stripes of various colors. I don't remember it hurting that much, but I do remember feeling something wet on my stomach, and then lifting up my shirt. I don't have an image of the cut itself, but I have a very vivid memory of freaking out when I saw how much blood there was.

I still have a ropy two- or three-inch scar on my stomach as a reminder.

-McGee

[Yads]

Mine isn't really interesting, but I'll share it anyway. I was 2 or maybe close to 3 and my mom is pushing me in a stroller. It's summer time and the sun is really bright. I'm having a hard time seeing properly. That's about it.

[neuroman]

My sister had just been born in the hospital and my mother wasn't home to cook for us. My dad and I walked to McDonald's for pancakes. I was two and a half.

Actually, I don't know if I still remember this. But at one point I did.

[disjunction]

I am playing monopoly, basically all I know how to do is roll the dice and move whatever number of squares. My mother has to take a phone call. She tells me not to eat the dice. I pick up the dice and look at them, like, WTF?

[Golden_Rhino]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a number of early quasi-memories but my first concrete memory is of the hospital the day my sister was born - this was two days before I turned 3

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine is almost identical. I was 3 and a few months though.

[gamblore99]

I think I am about 4-5 in preschool. We sit in a large circle and learn about the colour badge(sp?).

Another memory which may have been earlier, is begging my mom not to let the nanny wash my hair, as she is rough and always gets shampoo in my eyes. The nanny washes my hair and gets shampoo in my eyes and I cry.

-I also think a good portion of memories before 5 are false.

[gwhiz_612]

My oldest memory is when we moved into a new home. I was 3 almost 4 and there were boxes in the living room. I remember my mom wiping off a clock and hanging it in the kitchen. I tried to help by grabbing a towel and wiping off some shelves by the fire place. I faintly remember the smell of pinesol.

Another early one is when I was 5. I'll tell this just cause it contains some drama. My friend and I rode our bikes to the top of the street like we did just about every other day. Except this time I told him "hey let's pretend we have naked girls on the back of our bikes." He's like "Yeah!" So we start flying down the street, which is actually the sidewalk because I wasn't allowed on the street. I look back and yell to him "How's your girl doi..." next thing I know I'm up in the air like superman. I actually remember being in the air and seeing the sidewalk get closer and closer and then BAM!!! jaw first I hit the pavement. I get up dazed and spitting teeth and blood. My friend was off of his bike by now and holding one of my shoes asking me if I was ok. Luckily I was only 3 houses up and made my way home feeling dizzy and extremely sleepy. My parents came running out the house, mom is crying and my dad is carrying me to the car. On the way to the hospital my dad kept shaking me to keep me awake. Get to the hospital ER and I remember them putting me on a table and about 6 people were around me, one of them bearing a huge needle that she proceeded to insert into my chin.
End result=Broken Jaw in 3 places had to get it wired shut for six weeks and eat out of a tube. I remember a lot of details of this whole ordeal but I am only sharing a few here to keep it short(semi anyway). Ever since this happened naked girls have been my downfall.