We took our now 3,5 years old son for a trip to USA last fall … so he was 2,5 years old that time. We live in Europe. Next week i am traveling there again so i spoke with him about me traveling to USA and he started asking me questions about places we were last year. Also he was telling me many specific memories from that trip last year and was asking me about specific people we have met. That is not surprising, it was last year. But how is it possible, that he will not remember anything from it 15 years from now if he remember it year after? I mean, he will not remember he was in USA at all.
I would understand that kids and toddlers keep forgetting stuff and thats why they will never remember them as an adults. But if they remember things from year or more ago, why will they forgett them as an adults?
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It’s not simple.
I can for instance, remember vague parts of infancy. The feeling of rubber of the bottle I had. The Taste of milk. Nothing specific, everyone is different.
Aside from neural reasons, there’s also the point in how we remember things.
If I told you, you’re going to meet the President and 500 other people, you’d likely remember that one Meeting forever – but forget most of the others. The fact that it’s special to you let’s you save and remember it. Just like you don’t remember most of any of the last 800 meaningless days, but probably remember the anniversary dinner.
How is a Trip to the US special to a toddler that doesnt understand the concept of Trips countries, vacations and “special places”? Why would he save any of it? And then, How does he remember it? Like a toddler likely couldnt tell you a continuous story, how would remember it?
Smells, images, feelings, senses. That’s the World he exists in, and he will likely remember parts of those.
It’s much more fluent than what I described, but that’s another idea to consider.
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