Sixth Birthday Party
6 years old
Sensory Associations/Attachments
Party was extremely bright and colorful, bright pink decorations & everything had cats on it.
Gifts I received were also very colorful, specifically mermaid dolls
It was a pool party & I remember the feeling of sitting inside with wet hair after swimming in the heat.
Socioemotional development- I was very egocentric at 6 years old and had not yet fully developed the ability to see things from my friend's perspectives who did not have pools at their house to swim whenever they wanted.
Frustration- My mom was upset with me because I wanted to stay inside and play with my presents instead of swim because I had been swimming all summer. I felt frustrated because I thought she couldn't see my perspective
Emotional Associations
Guilt- because my mom allowed me to open one of my presents before my dad was home and I felt like he would be sad or mad at me.
I thought that we opened the present because I kept bothering my mom about it, but when I talked to her recently she said she let me open it because she genuinely forgot that my dad wasn't home yet.
Amygdala assisted in the retention of these memories
Excitement- I had never had a big birthday party with friends from school and I got to invite a lot of them and had a fun time.
Confusion- This was the first birthday I had after my mom's parents got divorced and at the time they were taking turns with visiting us and so only my grandpa came to see me since my grandma had come for my sister's birthday the month before.
I also preferred to play with my sister who was 13 years old because at 6 years old, developmentally speaking, family was still more significant to me than friends.
My mom may not have been as upset as I recall her being.