this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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Specifically, as in having memories from being younger than 3 years old and even further

I orient myself's own timeline upon some early-childhood memories, but some people have questioned it as false memory... which, understandable

But I can draw the layout of every house I've lived in, who's room was who's, where furniture was, certain events (like having gum melt in my diaper, crying in my crib about not trick-or-treating, seeing my first "flying-leaf" insect) and a lot of other random tidbits

A lot of it I've been able to confirm as true, which is what has always intrigued me. How far back is average? I think the furthest I can grasp is around 2 years old or maybe a little less

Maybe some of it has to do with trauma-ish things or something? But I can literally remember the potpourri on my mom's dresser when she was holding me, who was at my 3rd birthday... and just, kinda far back

What's everyone else's memory like here? I feel like my early pre-teens was kinda a blur, but my early childhood seems more vibrant sometimes. I dunno, I was just curious

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[–] dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

When I was about three years old, I walked down the hallway from my room toward the living room. I remember that even in that moment it felt like I had blacked out halfway through and my brain started working a couple of steps from the living room door. Everything before that is blank, yet I have tons of memories from the weeks and months after that event.

[–] MrShankles@reddthat.com 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Interesting! Like, "I have suddenly awoken"

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 3 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

Not the same person, but my first memory is essentially that. One day when I was 3 I walked into the garage for some reason and thought "Huh. This is my first memory". Then walked back inside.

I do recall some things from before that time, but those were only through dreams as a kid and I only remember the barest flashes of them

[–] dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de 2 points 11 hours ago

Pretty much that, yes. I remember stopping for a moment and wondering what had just happened. I was of course aware that I had existed before. Who and where I was. At the same time it felt like all that was vague and distant, like suddenly waking up from a dream.

Realistically, it was probably just an unusually intense doorway effect but the fact that I can still remember it so vividly, even decades later, shows how significant it must have felt to 3-year-old me.