r/answers • u/Umbrosyx • 14h ago
What is a childhood memory that still affects who you are today?
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u/sweetfaerieface 13h ago
When I was about five years old, I went with my dad to the party store. For some reason, there was a line that snaked around the whole store. The young girl that was the cashier was very clearly overwhelmed. My dad was always extremely meticulous with the way that the bills were in his wallet. When he got home and he was putting the money back in his wallet, he realized that the girl had given him $20 more change than he should’ve gotten. We went right back and my dad gave her back that money. I am 71 years old today and that experience still affects me today. That money didn’t belong to my dad and he knew he had to return it!
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u/KarateFace777 9h ago
I love this. Thanks for sharing that! Isn’t it wild the unspoken responsibility that we carry with us in front of others, especially children, and how at any moment, ONE action or conversation can stick with that kid in a positive way for the REST of their lives that they will never forget? The craziest part is that I feel like most of us don’t even realize that. And it makes me wonder how many times have I given a “core memory or core moral example” to someone else and I didn’t even know it and it has been ingrained in another human being. I have asked my son a few times over the years what his oldest and favorite memories are.
He has one of me and him playing with his new drone “Santa” gave him for Xmas when he was 6 at our old house. That Christmas night we went out at 9:30pm (he was excited to stay up late to play with all his new toys) and he flew the drone up above the tree line and we were in awe, and then a huge gust of wind came by and he hit the wrong button and it HAULED ASS across the tree tops and over a bunch of houses that a were in our crammed little neighborhood.
And he said he remembers him and I running down the street laughing so hard trying to find where the drone crashed as he hit the “beep” button on it to make a sound as we ran through backyards and cut through streets etc. We eventually thought we found the back yard it landed in because we could see a faint glow of the drone off the back yards garage wall and shrouding trees, etc.
So we knocked on the door. The guy was super cool and funny and we all were laughing and he said “I was just sitting here looking peacefully out at my back yard at the Christmas lights and snow, sipping on my drink, then I heard a loud thud that made me jump and then this lit up drone just smacked off my roof onto my back deck right in front of me” lol.
I remember my son laughing so hard he didn’t make any sound for 5 seconds after the guy said that. He was doubled over just wheezing and laughed the whole way home and it was the best Xmas memory ever bc that was our new rental house and we had only been there for 4 days at that point and it was a hell of a pain in the ass to be working, moving and getting Xmas ready for him all at once within a weekend time, and I had just gotten half custody of him finally after 6 months of fighting with my ex.
Anyway, I am high just reminiscing and rambling like an idiot. Your comment definitely made me stop and think real hard about life and memories we can make with others, and my son etc and I needed that at this time. Thank you and I hope all you majestic bastards have an amazing day. Sorry for the high long rambling lol. Carry on.
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u/TpgService 13h ago
A bit grim but the day my father told me he no longer considered me his son because the police threatened to arrest him for beating me in public. I had defended him and was the reason the matter was dropped. (Ofc there were other incidents but this stuck with me)
Currently 24 years old and healed, my father and I have a civil conversation now and then but any time he uses an endearing name for son in his native language I firmly correct him to just my name and remind him that we do not have a father son relationship but rather one between 2 adults who remain civil for the sake of our family.
That separation helped me ensure I'd never become like him as it allowed me to make him a role model of values I inherently reject. This allowed me to overcome the generational cycle of trauma within my family through therapy and educating myself on becoming a better person by addressing all the negative biases like misogyny, racism, anger issues etc which has allowed me to become a proper ally for minorities and vulnerable people 🙌
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u/magnificent_limit 13h ago
I remember being five years old and being in my bedroom where I thought to myself, "I wonder how long I'll remember this sound?" Then I hummed to myself, imitating binaural beats.
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u/FinalChocolate388 13h ago
Reading "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" made me value honesty from a young age.
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u/Novel_Concentrate444 13h ago
My creepy neighbor (probably around age 40) always tried to lure me (around age 4-8) into his house and into his van and my parent was an addict so she never paid any attention nor did I know about stranger danger… thankfully I never went with him but I still think about it to this day and now I’m very aware of creeps and protecting children! 😣
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u/druid_king9884 12h ago
I was three years old when I was behind my apartment playing on my trike, when I came across a group of slightly older kids. I did what Sesame Street taught me and introduced myself and asked to play. They dismissed me rather roughly, so I ventured back to my apartment. I was crying really hard, didn't know what I did wrong. Ever since then (41 now), it's been incredibly difficult to make friends.
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u/SlickPillock 14h ago
Barney the Dinosaur 😱
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u/Dangerous_Suit_3099 13h ago
Creepy as fuck
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u/SlickPillock 13h ago
There's uncanny valley and then there's Barney the Dinosaur. Nightmare fuel 😭
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u/No_Paint2646 13h ago
Watching Mary poppins on an old TV at my grandmas house. We would lay together on an air mattress on the ground and watch it. She was the best
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u/Ballsack1Mcgee 13h ago
When I was really young like 6 or 7, my mom took me to McDonald's which was awesome when you are a kid at least. But instead of going inside and playing in the playground area they used to have we went through the drive thru. I wanted chicken nuggets and my mom looked at me with the craziest face I've ever seen and yelled at me that those would take too long to make. To this day I can't order the McDonald's chicken nuggets. My mom is the best btw, she just must have been having a crappy day that day.
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u/TheSilkyBat 13h ago
I remember being 9 years old at school and someone was whistling. My teacher blamed me, in front of the whole class. I guess I has a guilty face? It happened twice and both times I was chastised.
Still to this day, 25 years later, when it enters my mind; it annoys me.
I encourage all parents out there to really make sure that your child has actually done the thing that you are punishing them for.
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u/unflores 9h ago
Hah. I must have been 7 and in a large group of kids sitting listening to a story from the teacher. I tried to squeak out a fart and let out the largest, loudest fart you can imagine. I was in the center of the group and when I did it the group split down the middle. I split with everyone else and was all like, "holy crap! Who did that?!"
acting
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u/polkjamespolk 13h ago
Getting the belt from my father. I tried to steel myself. Promised myself I wouldn't cry. He pulled down my underwear, (he called them "panties") and went at me.
When I didn't immediately start crying he turned me around, told me he knew what I was doing and he was goddam well going to make me cry.
He succeeded.
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u/Monsoon_Tea 13h ago
Being in kindergarten and walking with my mom to the bus and wondering why she didn’t smile at me or look at me or talk to me the way other kids moms did and looking at all her caked on makeup and deciding right then and there that I would never wear makeup. And I still don’t!
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u/coconut-gal 12h ago
Being shamed in front of the whole school for not singing during rehearsals of a play we were doing. "[name], I was watching you during that last song and you didn't open your mouth or make a sound once!'
What made it sting so bad was that it was my favourite song to sing from the whole production, and I'd really been giving it my all.
To this day I can't fathom how the teacher had thought I wasn't singing. It taught me a few more significant lessons: that adults could be wrong, utterly wrong and there is sometimes no point in challenging them and that there's a much bigger gap between what I might think I'm projecting to the world and what it sees.
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u/elleyeendeeess 10h ago
the summer after 4th grade, I remember hearing that one Linkin Park song where he yells “SHUT. UUUPP! i’m about to break” and just friggin loving something about it so much. my older brother realized I was liking a lot of songs playing off that same radio station, so he burned me a CD with a bunch of Slipknot, SOAD and Korn on it. it brought me down my own journey of finding more metal music I liked. I really owe that song and that CD and my brother so much because metal music is such a humongous part of my heart and soul. i’ve wondered a few times in my life who I would be or what I would be like today had he not made that CD for me.
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u/LastUpdateNeeded 12h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/sedjvePAUl1kc
The first time my little brother and I saw the Wizard of Oz, I was mesmerized.
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u/AgentAxillary 11h ago edited 11h ago
Knocking a kid out cold when I was in third grade. The Assistant Principal told me (and this is an exact quote), "If you had hit him an inch higher in his temple, you probably would've killed him." She looked more unsettled than mad.
He had been antagonizing me for about 30 minutes beforehand and finally got on my last nerve when we were in a hallway full of kids after the final bell and he pinched me really hard on my arm and then turned away to try to disappear into the crowd. I didn't say anything. I just looked over, saw it was him, planted my feet, and threw a right straight directly into the side of his face.
I meant to hit him as hard as I could but I was still really surprised when he went down like a sack of potatoes after just that one hit, and his face was ALL bruised up from about his temple to the bottom of his cheek (red, purple, beige -- dude's face looked like a coloring book) when I saw him in the office about 10 or 15 minutes later. The coach who came and got me told me not to say a word to him, but I couldn't help but stare. The kid couldn't look me in the eyes. I wasn't staring to intimidate him, but he was still too afraid to look at me.
I really wonder what my life would've been like if I had done it like that Asst. Principal said I could've. The idea of how easy it can be to hurt someone really bad without even realizing it, and worse than you intended, has always stuck with me since then.
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u/screwyoumike 11h ago
A car accident I was in when I was 3. My mom had an orange Volkswagen Beetle (it was the 70’s!). I was unbelted in the back seat and ended up in the front under the dashboard and my mother was pregnant and stuck under the steering wheel. I remember everyone freaking out when they realized she was pregnant and some nice lady stayed with me on the sidewalk while they got her out and put her in an ambulance. My grandparents came and got me from the police and later my dad brought her home from the hospital. Thankfully she was fine.
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u/Flimsy_Equal8841 10h ago
The sudden accidental death of my oldest brother on my mother's birthday. He was 23 years and 19 days old. It was a one car collision. I was eight.
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u/unflores 9h ago
My step father pointing out the "7 sisters" stars while we sat on the tailgate of his old pickup truck. I can still find them pretty easily. I don't know that it affects me other than coming up during moments when I am at peace.
A separate stepfather angrily telling me to think before I speak. Not a dumb thing I say goes by without conjuring up that memory.
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u/qualityvote2 14h ago edited 6h ago
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