Like a child hypnotized by the Pied Piper, so was T to the melodic chime of an ice cream truck.
On Thursday afternoon after daycare pickup, it was sunny and beautiful, so T and I hung out in the playground before heading home.
The melody of an ice cream truck appeared out of nowhere. T asked for a cone and I reminded him we don’t have ice cream on school nights.
The melody triggered memories of when T did a happy dance in our old neighbourhood whenever the truck appeared and he’d skip towards the lineup, in rhythm to the melody.
I then remembered this exact moment below when he had his very first ice cream cone, at age 3 on a mild late April weekend. The look on his face as he had his first lick ever was so precious.
As T played, I thought about how our brains retain and recall memories; what we can keep and the many moments that are forever lost over time.
A 2019 study reinforces the hippocampus in the brain is the hub that stores memories and suggests that it works with the neocortex to fill in the details of a memory.
Yah, it sounds academic. For me, this reminds me that we remember the most positive or negative moments – because our reactions are so visceral.
So how do focus on moving forward with the positive experiences, while learning from the less positive ones to avoid repeating them?
As I thought about this, T sat on the swings, kicking his feet up and pulling them back, building a steady momentum until he was quite high in the air.
It was just last summer when he tried valiantly to do this but gave up in frustration. This was his first time doing this on his own in front of me.
We cheered together and I knew this was gonna be a moment I’ll recall vividly one day.
When we got home, I read his teacher’s Communications Log. It was an up and down day, but there was a wonderful comment: he moved up two reading levels to Level 14!
It was just a month ago that she moved him up. He was now one level shy of reaching Grade 1 year-end expectations.
The hubby and I made a big proud freaking deal out of it. We then broke our no ice cream on a school night rule and gave T a small scoop after he finished his homework.
That is so wonderful. You can’t beat an ice cream reward ❤️
Thanks Gary. If the ice cream truck came with babysitting services too, it’d be even more perfect!
BRAVO for T! I eat a small ice cream every freaking night since I was a kid! LOL – it’s our family go-to – I loved your post – I was just talking to my 5-year-old grandson as we were driving in the mountains. The air smelled so crisp and beautiful and I said, you will always think of Ellicottville when you encounter this smell (well I used 5-year-old words) He asked why and I tried to explain – I hope he will remember the crisp air and think of lovely memories in Ellicottville. Thanks for sharing your post –
Thanks Vickie for sharing that nice memory. The smells help evoke memories for sure and I bet those Mountain Views will be remembers fondly one day!
Celebrating successes are among the memories from my childhood that I can still remember vividly. I can imagine ten, twenty years from now when you have an ice cream with T there will be nothing but pure happiness shared by all of you. I guess you can show him that photo of his first ice cream lick one day when he’s grown up! 🙂
Thank you Bama. I hope these memories will be fondly remembered and recalled by T indeed one day! 😊🙏
It is pretty fascinating how we store and remember our memories. Congrats to T for moving up two reading levels. It’s always great to celebrate the successes and create new memories. Ice cream sounds like a great reward. Hope you enjoyed your time at the Bluffs again. The weather on Saturday was just lovely.
So interesting about the different areas of the brain storing memories. And you brilliantly wrote that pulling together the ice cream truck, the swinging and the reading!
Congratulations on level 14 — and the ice cream. And most of all, all the wonderful memories!! Have a great week!
Thank you, Wynne. These small memories are always the biggest in the long run. Have a great week ahead too!
I love how you rationalized our memory mechanism through visceral reaction, and I totally agree. For some reason, I remember where I ate a certain foods for the first time. In the case of the cow’s brain, it was also the last time lol. T deserved his ice cream cone!
Yes, I would definitely remember cow brain too if I ate it. You’ll need to share the gory details!
Beautiful memory….and great news about advancing in reading!😊
Thank you, Grace!
You are welcome <3