I don't think it is that simple. We are all of our experiences, those that we experienced when we were 3 and those we experienced when we were 13, 23 33, etc.

But, when an experience happens to us, we only have our previous experiences, genetic dispositions/intelligence, and developmental stage to help us. I "lost" a bridge when I was 2 because the stream curved through the neighborhood backyards and I was too young, developmentally, to understand/judge what could have happened; you've probably seen the Piaget experiments he did on his own kids? Piaget Cognitive Stages of Development.

I can still remember and re-experience the anger and puzzlement I felt; I knew the bridge had to be there and what direction it was in, etc. Conclusion? Someone had to have moved it But I was helpless to get across the stream (too big to jump and I couldn't take my socks and shoes off and wade it because of the sea monster that might get me :-)

I know about things being around corners now but did you catch the sea monster reference? It was only 10 years ago, in therapy, that I was thinking about the Dr. Suess' book, McElligot's Pool, how it was my favorite book when I was 2 and I went out and bought it 10 years ago and was sharing it with my therapist and we were both shocked to find the "sea monster" at the end, was a friendly, happy-looking whale! Our further discussion of my life when I was 2 made it all make sense and "fixed" a few mis-perceptions (other than the bridge being stolen :-)

We have to "go back" and re-work the experiences that tripped us up before, for whatever reason they tripped us up. Kids are notorious for getting things wrong and jumping to incorrect conclusions so there is a lot we grew up thinking that ain't necessarily so? My stepmother once apologized in my late teens/early 20's for treating me so harshly in my early teens and explained she had had a difficult menopause. At the time, I still did not "understand" but, at 62, I do now? It is often very helpful to wander back and forth like that, scan for possible misperceptions and "you'll understand when you get that age" sorts of experiences, even after therapy.