How good is your memory and how do you date things mentally?

[Jean in Newcastle]

The doctor asked me yesterday how long it had been since I had a certain medical test.  I remember having the test.  I even remember some details about the visit like talking to a lady in the waiting room.  But I couldn't tell him if it was 2  years ago or 10 because that memory has no "date" in my memory.  Most things tend to get dated mentally by how old my kids were at the time and my kids must not have been with me for that visit.  So how good is your memory and how do you date things mentally?  

[TravelingChris]

I don't know how I date things but I do know that I have always had a good memory for what order things happened.  I have known that  since in college I did a psychology department test on this and apparently I was exceptionally strong at this.  But I have a very good memory for many things so it never stood out to me.  I do realize most people don't have as good a memory as I do.  It was one big reason that school was so easy for me- I basically remembered what the teacher said or what I read.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I've moved 11 times in 13 years, so I often date things by which place I lived in. Now that we are no longer renting and will live someplace longer than three years, it will probably get harder to date events.

[sassenach]

I'm good with dates and events.  I can't tell you why.  Well, at least for the medical stuff, that muscle has been greatly exercised by caring for ds and having numerous doctors appointments with many different specialists who need to discuss his history.  With other stuff (like I can remember pretty much all of my friends' kids birth months and years) it just sticks.  Ds is like this, too.  He can tell me the birthDATE of pretty much every kid in our church, all of his friends, and many of his sports teammates.  

 

However, I cannot for the life of me remember which year my beloved grandmother died.  It takes at least 5 minutes of thinking.   :confused1:

[HelenNotOfTroy]

Some things (especially from childhood) I date by where I lived, where I went to school, and events that I remember being before or after. Now? I have to think really hard to figure out when something happened.

[hillfarm]

About the only thing I can remember is the date of our last tetanus shots. We get them every 10 years, in a year ending in 0 (1990, 2000, 2010, etc.) Due to the fact that we live on a small farm that is loaded with rusty metal in the barn yard, it is inevitable that during any 10 year period we will all get scratches and cuts that would require us to get a tetanus shot if we can't remember the date of our last one. So this way, I know for sure.

 

Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses are making serious inroads into our rural area. As I understand it, it could be important to know when we were bitten by a tick if any of us begin to show symptoms. So when I remove one from a family member, I seal it in cellophane tape and note the date and initials of the "victim" and store it in a ziplock baggie. I spoke with a tick expert over the weekend who said this was a great way to remember, in case symptoms showed up. If they do, not only do I have the date, but also the offending tick for medical testing as well. At the end of the year, I throw all the collected "evidence" out and we start fresh again the next year.

 

As to the rest of the important dates, anyone's guess is as good as mine. I usually have no clue. Too many competing things to remember. If I need to remember it, then I have to write it down or put it in a file. I do have a medical file for each family member where I keep the receipts for dr./health visits and prescriptions filled.

[Melissa in Australia]

I  remember things several different ways. I remember where things are/ or where by holding a picture in my mind. I remember conversations. even as long as 30 years afterwards. I remember places and things like that. But I do not remember dates. Every year I have to look up my wedding certificate to see what date I was married on. I know it is near the end of February. I remember the day in great detail but not the date.

[Murphy101]

Haha! I do that too. I date everything by either who I was pregnant with or what baby was in my arms at the time.

 

"Let me see... I think I was pregnant with K.... And they were born in ____, no wait that's A, K was ___, what year is it now? Um so 2013 - the year they were born and a few months... I *think* that happened ___ years ago!" I feel quite accomplished by the time I get to the point. *blush*

[Pawz4me]

I have a horrible memory for events and dates.  Thankfully youngest DS remembers everything.  So he's kind of my surrogate memory. :laugh:  Unfortunately, that doesn't help too much at the doctor's office!

[jewellsmommy]

I date things by feelings. That sounds strange, but I was helping a friend put a calendar of events that had occurred over a 6month time span  about a year ago. I was constantly saying, "I remember (so and so) did (this and that) because I was bugged by the fact  they ignored...." and "I know we held the party on this date because I remember thinking that we would have a hard time fitting the party in with (such and such) going on and I was a little stressed by that." And "I know this happened in the 3rd week of May because I was excited about us going on our vacation right after and I knew I still needed to pack."

 

It is all about association, but if you attach a strong feeling to it, I can tell you almost verbatim what someone said to me or me to them even years later.

[Amira]

I'm like HoppyTheToad, I date things based on where I lived when it happened, or how many months before or after a move something happened. Since I'm going to keep on moving for the foreseeable future, I plan to keep using this system because it's really effective. :)

[Dory]

I date childhood memories by where we lived at the time. As an adult, I tend to remember major events fairly well and I just sort the small stuff into 'before' or 'after'  the main events. I can usually nail things down to a few months. I also use seasons to help with the dating of things. I am absolutely horrible at remembering peoples names or remembering numbers though.

[ocelotmom]

Where I was living, how old my kids were, what other things were going on in my life. I can generally find something that lets me figure it out.

[Mrs Mungo]

Dates are reasonably easy for me because we move so often. My memory seems to mark 3 things: where we were living, how old my kids were and what I was wearing (that one is probably weird).

[lllll]

..

[Sara in AZ]

Terrible all the way around. It's a good thing I have kept many journals or I wouldn't remember a significant amount of my life with much accuracy.

[bethben]

I've been off on events by at least 2 years.  Sometimes I get shocked by how many years have elapsed since my last appointment or some such thing.  I had a roommate in college who was awesome at remembering dates in particular.  Our final month of school, she said we should contact each other some date in the summer 2012 which was 20 years into the future.  At that time it seemed like forever.  She called me up and said, "Do you know what today is?"  I had no idea.  She remembered the exact date and I'm pretty sure she didn't write it down.  It's a gift.

 

Beth

[Ripley]

I have a good memory in terms of events, but it's poor when it comes to dates and places.  So like you, OP, I'd remember having the test but not when/where I had it.  Like another poster I moved every 12-18 months, but unlike that poster this only made my poor memory worse. I can't remember where I lived, when, or how old my kids were (or which kids lived there with me).  I also spent a lot of time flying out of town for my own job, so I basically stopped paying attention to dates and places. LOL

 

I date things by music and movies.  I'll remember what was on the radio, what CDs I bought, and/or what movies I saw in theaters or on the airplane. A quick internet search lets me know the general date of any given event. 

[Liz CA]

I would only remember something like this by where we lived at the time. However, we lived in the last place for over 13 years, so it's not terribly helpful, the next thing how old was ds...but that gets a little cloudy too.

[creekland]

I am horrible at remembering those types of things and I'll admit to not really trying.  To me, it'll be good when they get electronic charts that will be available to any medical practitioner I come across.  I do try to remember when to update my tetanus shot - based off getting a dog bite when I was pregnant with youngest and knowing they are good for 8 - 10 years.

 

I easily remember dates for birthdays, anniversaries, and major traveling things we did with the boys (remember the month and year anyway if not the actual "dates.")  I might forget to send cards... but I do remember I forgot when I realize what date it is.  I can rattle off the birthdates of all family members including extended family and cousins we keep up with. I just associate the date with the person.

 

I can easily remember most things academic - which makes it easy to tutor for things like the SAT.

 

I have trouble remembering most things on TV or movies.  Major stuff I can sometime get (pending how recently I saw it), but anything else - including who acted in most of them - I forget easily.  I wouldn't even be able to relate the correct order of events in a show I've seen the day before.  If it's been a few years since I've seen them, sometimes I forget that I've seen them at all (except for some deja vu at certain scenes).

 

I think the key is I detest medical stuff, so don't want to put it into my memory...  and my brain gets bored watching TV or movies - even if I kind of enjoy them.

 

My middle son and sister can both remember practically anything or anyone.  I go to them when I need to know something.

 

I can remember we visited Glass Beach in Ft Bragg, CA on a western trip we took with the boys in July/Aug 2004.  Middle son can remember what we ate for meals that day, the video they watched that night in the car while driving, and details about where we stayed, etc.  He amazes me.

[lynn]

Childhood memory's are usually within a year or two of how old I actually was.  Depending on the memory it may be where we lived at the time.  I am usually not to far off.

[Cinder]

If I can relate the event to a place we lived (we've moved several times) or to a significant event with a dc then it's easy to remember. I remember getting an MRI the month after dd was born. I also got my first crown then. But my last mammo? Earlier this year I was trying to figure out when I'd gone last but couldn't remember at all. Turned out it had been less than a year before. Is my memory going because I'm getting old or because we've lived in this house too long and all the events are running together? :laugh:

[MyThreeSons]

The doctor asked me yesterday how long it had been since I had a certain medical test.  I remember having the test.  I even remember some details about the visit like talking to a lady in the waiting room.  But I couldn't tell him if it was 2  years ago or 10 because that memory has no "date" in my memory.  Most things tend to get dated mentally by how old my kids were at the time and my kids must not have been with me for that visit.  So how good is your memory and how do you date things mentally?  

 

I'm pretty good with approximate dates -- usually the exact year, often the month, but rarely the day. I tend to tie things together by remembering where I was or who I was with at the time.

 

For instance, I'll always remember that Elvis died in August of 1977 (I think -- didn't look it up) because one of the first things my college freshman year roommate asked me as we were getting to know each other was whether I cried when I heard that Elvis had died. She had been getting her hair cut when the news broke, and she was telling me how weird it was that all of these women our mothers' age had burst into tears. 

 

BTW, I can also tell you that Bing Crosby died several weeks after Elvis (again, I think I'm right), because I remember crying when I heard that news, and thinking about how I didn't cry about Elvis. 

 

What bugs me is that I will often remember the excruciating details of a conversation I've had with someone, and the other person doesn't remember it at all. It's like I can see a video in my head of the conversation, often including what we were wearing, exactly where we were standing, words we both spoke, etc.