Future Llamboks vs. My childhood

Definition of a Llambok: On our wedding day, my sister presented us with a wedding cake topper she had handmade which had a Springbok (South Africa's national animal) and a Llama (a very popular Peruvian animal) representing both of our backgrounds coming together as one. It was then decided that if they had babies, it would result in a new species called The Llambok. Hence, our children will be little Llamboks.

Sometimes I worry about my future Llamboks. What will their childhood be like? Will they be brainwashed by all this new technology? Will they know the smell of an old book? Will 2 year olds own Smart phones? Will MTV feature any music? 

I have been thinking a lot about my own childhood. I am so blessed to have 2 amazing parents who loved each other, stuck together and provided me with a stable home. When I think about growing up, I have nothing but fond memories to draw from. My mom is a very special individual. She always involved me in the kitchen and encouraged my love of cooking and baking. She would sing Xhosa songs and rock me to sleep, even when I was way too old for it. She made up stories about the baby monkeys in our backyard who didn't have "dummies" (pacifiers) so that I would not be heart-broken giving mine up to them. My Father worked really hard to provide for us. He made smiley face lunches like he was Picasso and packed my lunch box for school everyday. He taught me how to "braai" moving the coals around with my bare hands and we spent many hours in the garage together. (I think I was the son he never had.) He even bought me tampons in the later years and always referred to us as "His girls."

Childhood photo~ Mom and Dad totally rocking the 90's hair-do's. (eek!) That's me in the Mini Mouse dress that I hardly took off. I also remember that hair clip to be my very favorite and special one.

I never had much technology growing up, although I don't think many "kids" my age did. We were especially out of the loop living in South Africa and my husband is really shocked when I tell him we only had 3 TV channels for a long, long time. Most of my youth was spent playing imaginary games with my sister or my best friend, riding my bike, swimming or doing crafts.

My Llamboks will grow up in America. As a child, I could only dream of living in The States and was so envious when I watched American TV shows or saw the adverts for soda flavored lip balm in my imported comic books. My children will be given more opportunities and a lot more freedom then I had growing up and that kind of scares me. Fear of the unknown, I guess. No matter what happens, I will always do my best to follow in my parent's footsteps and provide the best environment, teach high morals and keep them grounded. With the combined South African/Spanish upbringings we will definitely have some well behaved kids. He he!

Thanks to pinterest I have been re-living my childhood by pinning all things 90's! Check out my board here.

Can someone hurry and invent a time machine to take me back to the good old days?

What are you favorite childhood memories?