What role do we as parents play in determining which experiences our children will remember, and how they will remember them? Do we secretly (or not so secretly) have our hearts set on our kids remembering particular things about themselves, about their childhood, about us? How do we navigate the excess of methods that promise to log our children’s lives for posterity: baby books, photo albums, archived and printed artwork, social media posts, videos, voice memos, sketches, holiday cards, make-a-plates, memorabilia boxes, bins full of school papers …
On Wednesday, I was able to discuss these questions with a room full of participants, most of them parents of young children. The event lasted an hour and fifteen minutes but could have gone on much, much longer. We had a lot to say. Thank you to Zion’s Hill Preschool, where my twin sons are students, for hosting us!
Throughout my book tour, I’ve been carrying a chart on yellow trifold poster board. I ask guests to indicate the age of their earliest childhood memory. The chart reflects the science: earliest memories are most common from three years old.
Suzanne Farrell Smith 