Oh to be young and oblivious

Do you remember when you were 3? How about a little older? When is your first memory of your youth, is it substantial or just a fleeting glance? Do you get flashbacks with just quick slideshow pictures or do you remember details?

Looking around you see youth all around you, small ages around 3, and they are so stuck in their own worlds, oblivious to so many of the things around them. I can't remember any time in my life feeling that way, although I really would like to! Oh to be young and oblivious, I truly wonder how that would feel, if only for a brief, fleeting moment of course!

There is a theory I read that the reason we do not remember memories from when we were small is because we haven't developed the language skills to properly "categorize" or store them in our file system, our brains. So therefore retention and/or the ability to recall is non-existent. That is why so many of us actually remember fleeting glimpses of pictures like scenes from a book, but don't remember the actual circumstances or details about the memory or event.

Actually, I think that is a very good explanation. There is one very strange memory I have, the earliest one I can remember and recount, was from 3rd grade, Mrs. Huegelin's class in school. I also remember (and surprised my mother recently with) my old phone number...LO8-4506...(Boy am I old! They didn't even make us remember area codes because we didn't use them! LOL) Mom confirmed that was our old phone number on Surrey Lane in Tenafly...That is the most vivid memory I have...

Anything before that time period, I just remember fleeting pictures of my grandparents, parents and siblings, even one of a house I remember, but not very much. This seems to bear some semblance to that theory about how the brain didn't categorize those memories effectively for me to be able to read, and possibly interpret at this stage of my language skills.

Well, these are only my thoughts.
What are yours???

Thanks for listening...