I missed January. so here is my first Story Telling Sunday with Sian Fair at High in the Sky. So many of the stories are based on memories, but I sometimes wonder how much we really do actually remember. Take my walking dolls for instance. I had 2 – one blonde and one with a thick mop of dark hair. I know exactly what they are like because they are in Puddle Duck’s bedroom. Even so I was convinced that the one in the picture had batteries, but she doesn’t. You have to hold her hand and rock her forward to make her walk.
I was also convinced that one of them talked, but neither of them do. The Grandma said the doll came from a relative in America. I thought she was bought when my brother was born – at which point in the conversation my mother decided that the american toys were all bought for her not me. I wonder if we are both wearing blue velvet dresses in the photo – which is what she told me.
I have the photos, I have the doll but I have no real memory of it from that time in my life.
So what was my first memory? I mean MY memory. Not one that has been pieced together later on, by seeing photographs or listening to stories told by adults who were present at the time. But something I really remember happening? I think it must be from my Play Group. There are no photos. The Grandma wasn’t there, so is not giving me her memories. I remember standing on something (maybe a crate?) and singing ‘I’m the King of the Castle’. But the big memory involves the Punch and Judy tent.
We were allowed in from tim to time – in pairs, to play with the hand puppets and ‘entertain’ the other children. I remember being inside the tent with another child. We were rummaging to the bottom of the box to find the puppet we wanted. I could hear another girl outside. She wanted to be next to play with the puppets, but she was scared of the crocodile. I heard the Play Group Worker reassuring her that the crocodile was at the bottom of the box. Then suddenly our time was over and we were called to leave the tent and the nervous child was shuffled in……….
………only to find the crocodile on top of the box. I don’t remember what happened next. I imagine she screamed and cried. I don’t know if we were admonished but I remember feeling just a little bit guilty….
These pages were prompted by Jane Howden‘s childhood memories series at Soul Scrappers. If you’ve been thinking of making an album about your childhood there’s no better place to start.
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Some notes on my LOs. the journalling block on My 1st real Memory was inspired by this post from Miss Smith.
Julie – these are beautiful layouts. Love the vintage feel, and love your journalling. Beautiful work.
These are beautiful!!!! LOVING the colors and love love love the fussy cutting!
Those layouts are beautiful and the puppet story did make me laugh a bit
A great story and I love how you have done the two layouts to suit the mood.
2 fabulous Lo’s x many thanks for sharing
That’s an good point you make. My daughter seems to have an amazing memory for little details from her childhood – things like the colour of everybodys plate when she handed round slices of birthday cake once – and of course I have no way of knowing if she is right, because I can’t remember the same details. I guess that emans we all need to keep on scrapbooking so that we have the details right there in front of us!
Thanks for storytelling this month Julie – it’s great to see you
Pretty and fun pages here. And you are right to distinguish between early stories and early memories. That will give me more food for thought. Great post!
Brilliant layouts and I love the fact that your first memory was of being a bit norty
I always wanted a ‘walking, talking doll’ but never got one..and I loved your playgroup story!
Alison xx
That’s something i’ve always wondered. My eldest remembers lots from when he was much younger – but I wonder if some of that are memories from photos and his scrapbook albums. great pages.
These layouts are beautiful!!! Love them all… awesome… hugs…xoxo
Loved your story–especially about the little girl scared of the crocodile and find it on the top of the heap!
It is always fascinating to see what our earliest true memories are – and they are often ones with emotion attached. I like the pages too – sounds like an interesting class.
Love the LO and I have to admit, I giggled a bit at the end
It’s hard to distinguish between real and constructed memories – and it gets worse!
Love both your pages – my daughter wasn’t interested in playing with my old dolls – Polly Pocket & Betty Spaghetti appealed more!
My own childhood memories are fleeting but my eldest son remembers so many things from when he was about 3 that I sometimes wonder what happened to mine. My earliest memory that would definitely be called my own and not added to by adults would have been when I was 5. I love your layouts.
Fascinating to read and to try and think of memories we have about which we cannot have been told… I love that page of you and the doll – she is nearly as big as you!
I so relate to your memories. I cannot distinguish between my “real” memories and those that probably came from photographs and stories told by my relatives. Sadly, stories were not a big thing in our family and so I don’t have nearly as many as I should. I loved this, and the layouts, too. I started a childhood album last year, but am slow to add pages to it.