on the flip side, a lot of kids experiences before 12 will be forgotten, some will be super memorable for their entire lives, but a lot of their memories of you as a "parent" and who you are as a person will be after the age of 12.
A lot of children's life experiences before 12 will shape them and their worldview for the rest of their lives, whether they actively remember it or not.
Now, I don't feel like I have a particularly great memory, I just imagined everyone could recall many different things from their childhood.
However I've noticed in the last few years both my SO and my mom often utter surprise when I recall some episode from when I was a kid, like "wow, you remember that?" Almost makes me feel like some weirdo for recalling that early stuff.
As to the topic at hand, since I do recall a fair bit from I was 4 and up, I'd say the time I spent with my parents before I was 12 definitely shaped me. So while I don't recall details of may conversations or similar, their parenting and behavior left a lasting impression.
My best two pieces of memories: 1) Parents took me to a geology museum and I got awed by the huge dinosaur skeleton; 2) In some Saturday nights I'd sleep between parents and we all watched paleontology programs on TV
I'll probably do similar things with my son.