My daughter is excited. This week, we’re leaving for ten days of vacation at our cabin. She remembers it from last year – the swimming, beachcombing, playing with friends who we see a couple of times a year. Oh, and there are the croissants from the bakery down the road. We all look forward to those.
One of the aspects of preschooler development that I find most intriguing is the development of memory, and with it anticipation or dread. When my daughter was two years old, she remembered very little from day to day. I found two-year-old tantrums easy. After all, all I needed to do was to point to something out the window, and the tantrum would be forgotten, as long as I paired this with some snuggles. Good times.
At three, we went on a trip to my sister’s house for three weeks. She wasn’t all that excited until the day before, and that was because I kept mentioning airplanes. If I mentioned a treat in the morning, she might remember it by the afternoon.
At four, memory really started to kick in. She’d remember that I’d given her a candy the week before in a certain situation, and the next week she’d ask for one again. I started having to watch my step. She’d also remember whether or not she enjoyed an experience the last time around, even if that experience was half a year before.
Now, at five I’ve been hearing about our trip to the cabin for months. Anticipation is certainly here. A couple of weeks ago, she decided that our trip was so close that she’d better get packing. She packed all of her clothes, including a snorkel for the tidal pools. While her sense of time might not be too developed, her memories certainly are.
As your children grow older, have you noticed that anticipation and memory grow as well?