Welcome to the world, sweet precious baby. We live in a wonderfully fantastic place. It's filled with endless possibilities. As a baby born in 2012, the world is at your fingertips. There are a few things, however, that you will probably never know. Things that were all too common to me when I was growing up. Things that I felt would be around forever and now seem so ancient and obsolete. You, my dear child of 2012, will probably never know:

• What a record, cassette tape or CD is.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Music, as you know it has always been downloadable. You will never know what it's like to stand outside the music store for hours in the freezing rain before it's even open so you can be the first of your friends to hold that much-anticipated new release.

• What it's like to take pictures using film and having it developed at the photo shop.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] With today's preview screens on cameras, you will never experience the anticipation of seeing those as-is photos for the first time in print format (cropped heads, red eyes and all). From the time you were born, pictures of you have been taken with a digital camera and shared with family and friends within seconds via social networking.

• How to call someone on a corded, rotary-dial, landline telephone.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] You will never know what it's like to have a private conversation with your BFF on the family's only phone (stationed in the busiest room of the house -- the kitchen). Life for you will always include texting and cellphones, making it  much easier for you to talk about that cute boy in French class without fear of your parents overhearing.

• You will never have to open the pages of the dictionary to look up correct spellings and definitions.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Instead, without skipping a beat, you will automatically turn to the Internet for assistance.

• You will find it incomprehensible as to why we would ever...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] leave our homes, hop in the car and drive to a video store to rent a movie when all you have to do is click a button on your remote or download it on your PC.

• Life for you will always have an increased sense of security.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] You will probably never know what it's like to sleep comfortably with the doors unlocked and windows opened, sit in the backseat of your parents' car without a seatbelt or even ride your bike without a helmet. My dear child of 2012, so much has evolved over the last few decades. I wonder what changes you will see throughout your own life that your future children will probably never know.