When people talk about why we should study the past, a common point is that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. However, the relationship between the past and present is often more complex than this simplified warning. For Culture Night 2022, the Museum of Childhood Ireland asked researchers and practitioners at various career stages, all of whom are working on projects relating to childhood and youth, to consider the relationship between the past and the present, especially in terms of how this emerges in their own work. In these pre-recorded reflections, everyone engages with the pertinent question of why it is important to understand the history of childhood and youth and its relevance in the present day.