ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

My son and his photographic memory

When I said that my son has a photographic memory, I didn’t mean on everything.  Wouldn’t it be nice that your kids have a photographic memory on their academic studies?  This way, parenting would be a lot easier.  I would not have to chase after him to get his homework done and readings completed for the day.

So, what type of photographic memory does he own?  He remembers all the trivial things.  Yes, the nonessential things with only a brief encounter.  We always know that he has a very good memory.  If his sister lost something, we can always ask him to locate it for us.  He remembers all the toys he has and where the last time he saw them.  He remembers where we went for vacation the last time.  He remembers if this is a place we have visited or the street that we have driven by.  This might strike you as having a very good memory, but not to the point of photographic. 

Maybe, I am somewhat exaggerated.  The incident that happened about 3 ½ years made me think that he has somewhat of a photographic memory.  He was roughly 3 ½ years old.  I gave him a beanie toy– a Vikings bear, a symbol of the Minnesota Football team, Vikings.  He glanced at it but showed no interest at the time, so I took it back and stored it in a closet that he had no access to.  At about the same time, his aunt was getting married and invited us over to her wedding.  My mother-in-law suggested that we bring a gift for his cousin, a little girl, about his age for meeting the very first time.   I thought that the symbolic beanie toy would be a good one.    

A year later, my son came to know Minnesota’s Football team, Vikings, probably from his friends at the daycare.  He asked about the beanie Vikings bear.  It blew my wig back to hear that he asked for the toy, as it was a glimpse from him a year ago.  I stated that I had given it away because I thought that he was not interested.  He was sad and unhappy.  Ever since then, he would bring this up to haunt me. 

Anyway, I learnt the lesson not to assume that our kids would not remember something even at a very young age or with a very brief encounter. 

This was just one incident.  He talked about things happened at an age that we thought he might not have the memory.  Maybe, he has a very good long-term memory.  Maybe he was pretending that he wasn’t listening, but in really, he took in everything we said and memorized it, just to haunt us. 

Isn’t it interesting to have a daughter who talks non-stop and a son who keeps everything in his mind!  Parenting isn’t easy.  It just teaches us to be extremely cautious at what we say  and how we act in front of the kids, and to set a good example for them.