My kids have surprised me occasionally, when out of nowhere, they will say, "I miss our old car" (a minivan we sold in December), or "I miss our house in Texas". It's especially surprising when my 3 1/2 year old says this. I guess I don't realize how long of a memory they have at this age.
If I had a picture of it right now, I would post my Dad's white Buick, from 1984-ish, which he sold (I really can't remember if it was because we got a new car or because that's when we moved to England). I was less than 8 years old, but I remember saying, "I miss our old car". I think I even cried when he sold it. It's also written down in one of my first entries of my diary that I received on my 8th birthday. That diary also caused heartache when I left it in the rain, and thought it was ruined...but I didn't let the waterlogged pages stop me from using it...I kept writing in it until 8th grade!!
Wow. Children grow attachments to some crazy things, don't they? I don't know if it's for the same reasons, but I know that even as an adult I have attached myself to old houses, high school knick knacks, my old doll house...Even when we moved from a house I always hated, I cried as we drove away.
And it wasn't for the structure, it was for the place- the living room I first introduced my newborn to our dog, the kitchen my oldest would cruise around in his walker (they weren't bad back then), and the many milestones he reached in his first year of life.
I doubt my kids have great memories associated with our old mini-van, but someday they will remember THIS house that we're in, all the memories we're making, all the milestones they reached, and one day they will say, "I miss our old house", and they will be older and I will agree. Because in our short year and a half, we have made so many memories here.
