I remember several things from before I was 3 (and plenty more after that), but I'm always unsure if it is an actual memory, or a memory of a memory.
I was a pretty introspective kid. I thought about my past and tried to recall my childhood even at the young age of 5. So perhaps my earliest memories are really just memories of being 6 or 7 and thinking back to when I was 2. Second hand memories, so to speak.
I suspect many of my early memories come from my parents, but there are quite a few that they don't remember at all. Those are probably memories of memories.
I have first hand memories from when I was 2. One of them was my mother getting in a car accident when she was bringing home McDonalds. I didn't really understand what a car accident was and was more concerned about the McDonalds. But we went out to pick her up and I understood better. (She was ok.) Another was me sitting in a high chair and looking up at a window.
When I was 3 or 4 I broke my nose playing on a playground. I remember that well. And I remember things from kindergarten and a lot of things from grade one.
I agree. I definitely remember things from before 7. Not many things, mostly flashes of images and textures of objects.
My earliest memory is a vague memory when I was in a crib. Based on certain specific details of that memory my parents place it to when I was around 2.
I remember vague details of the homes we lived in after I was 3 or 4, but not the first home we lived in at all.
Apparently I had a very bad fall at some point and put one of my new teeth through my lip and made a bloody mess everywhere. I have a scar there to this day, but don't remember the event in the least.
I remember my mother teaching me the alphabet with a foam alphabet mat [1] and how to tie my shoes when I was probably 3 or 4. I also remember the moment my mother taught me the difference between how to say "three" and "tree" and permanently corrected what would have been a difficult speech impediment.
I remember my Kindergarten teacher's name and my favorite toys from when I was 4 and 5.
But the number and quantity of my childhood memories explodes after I entered 1st grade at 6. I feel like I remember more about 1st and 2nd grade then I do about most of the rest of my elementary and middle school education combined. Some really detailed events even.
I remember most of my childhood. I also know I have clear memories before the age of 3, because we moved to another country at that time, so it easy to distinguish the memories before/after the move. Talking to other people about this tough have made me realize it's quite unusual.
I know tough that before age 25 all memories where real, but now getting older the memories are becoming memories of memories, and it saddens me a lot.
I was a pretty introspective kid. I thought about my past and tried to recall my childhood even at the young age of 5. So perhaps my earliest memories are really just memories of being 6 or 7 and thinking back to when I was 2. Second hand memories, so to speak.