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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Transitions – What do children remember?

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Memorial Day 2016
Memorial Day 2016

It was fun seeing my children grow and learn. Now I’m re-experiencing that thrill with my granddaughter. We have videos of her rolling over, crawling and those first tentative steps.

Recently I saw her run and fall – a face plant land right on the sidewalk. She was quickly comforted. I doubt she’ll remember the event, although I certainly will. It wasn’t serious, but there was some blood.

In fact, we parents often remember the bruises and bumps our children endure more than they do, because we feel them emotionally. The only way they remember might be pictures or stories we’ve told them. New research “challenges the notion that very young children do not form memories, finding that they do but that the memories often fade over time. It is their lack of cognitive or language skills to process and store events as memories that prevents them from remembering.” (Salynn Boyles WebMD Health News).

If they experience something out of the ordinary; however, those memories can be articulated for years to come. Such was the case of my older daughter when she was able to remember “the ground smoking” years after we visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park when she was a mere two years old.

With our toddler granddaughter, I wonder what memories she will have of seeing her first parade – Naperville’s Memorial Day Parade. She might remember the people, the marching bands, and the 21 gun salute. She may not remember the significance of seeing her grandfather lay the wreath at the Veterans Memorial on the Riverwalk. But when her memories fade, she will still have the photo of her being held by her grandfather, in uniform.

It was a proud moment for her family captured in print and hopefully cherished by her for years to come.

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Barbara Blomquist
Barbara Blomquist
Barbara Blomquist is a Naperville resident, wife, mother, quilter, and screenwriter. Contact her at BWBLomquist@aol.com.

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