As a child whose parents divorced when I was little you could say I was at a disadvatage sometimes. It’s true, for things like big family Christmas celebrations and the like and I was. I spent most of the time missing my Dad, some of the time missing my Mum and all of the time pretty sad that my parents were no longer together. It affected me and there weren’t that many bonus points that I could see as a child for not having a Mummy and Daddy in the same house.
As an adult I can see that my parents shouldn’t be together but when you’re little that’s a very hard thing to understand and I would spend ages trying to work out ways that I could get them back together. I even wrote to ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ once as my Step Mum had said if Phil Collins came her way she’d run off with him! I thought perhaps it could be arranged for Phil to pop along and sweep her off her feet leaving the coast clear for my parents to reunite!
So for me there weren’t many positives and although I had fun with both of my parents individually it was always on my mind that I wasn’t with both of them together. It’s still on my mind on big days like my wedding or even just the children’s parties that either they’re not both in attendance or if they are, they won’t be getting on. You could have blown me down with a feather at Jimmy’s birthday party this year when I captured them sitting together and BOTH of them had a smile on their face – a photograph to treasure for me. Not because I STILL want them to get back together I don’t harbor any wishes for that these days but it made me pleased to see them like that, happy in each others company for once – it certainly never happened when I was little!
But… before I start playing the violin too furiously there WAS one positive that came from it (lots of positives really but I couldn’t see them then) and that positive was double pocket money! I’ve always been a good little saver and this was only enhanced by the fact that when I saw my Dad he’d give me some and then I’d get my regular amount from my Mum! BONUS!
I can’t remember how much the amounts were when I was a little but I used to spend mine on a 20p mix from Mollies, the sweet shop near my school, everyday after the bell rang. My friend Ange and I would spend ages deliberating over which 20 to choose – we must have driven the girl behind the counter MAD! I’d save a little bit too and I remember saving up loads and loads so that I could buy my little baby brother (from my Dad and Step Mum) a ride on toy from Argos for £15! That seemed like an amazing amount of money to me!
By the time I was about 16 my pocket money had gone up to £3.20 a week from my Mum with the odd gratefully received cash injection from my Dad too of course! Totally wouldn’t have happened had they been together!! No idea why the twenty pence but that it was and £3.20 got me surprisingly far!
I remember my friend Emily and I would get the bus into the city on a Saturday night and ask for a half fare pretending to be 13 costing us just 40p then go and produce our fake IDs and get into the local club pretending to be 18! Peppermint Park (yes, it was as dodgy as the name suggests) played 70’s music which we’d dance to all night! We’d spend a pound on entrance and not wear a coat as the cloakroom was 50p so there we’d make a saving! Then we’d walk 3 miles home to save on cab fares too! The other £1.80 was to spend on 50p pints of Snake Bite and Black! Eurgh, can you think of anything worse! I’d only ever manage two so I always had a little bit extra for my piggy bank!
I can’t imagine £3.20 would get a teenager anywhere near as far these days but we certainly had fun being creative, freezing our socks off with no coats and stumbling home with red moustaches from the blackcurrent! Fun days and lots of good memories (if slightly illegal in our under age drinking) and all thanks to my pocket money – which don’t forget, often got doubled up!
Florence and Jimmy don’t get proper pocket money yet and I hope to goodness there’s never a need for doubled up pocket money! Unless it comes from the Grandparents of course! Now THAT already happens! They both got 20 euros from Jonny’s parents this weekend to spend on our holiday and my Mum often gives Florence pennies for her money box which she loves!
This is an entry to the Tots100 pocket money competition with The Roosterbank Pocket Money Index. The prize is an iPad mini – exciting! We’re ALL keeping our fingers crossed because Jimmy threw our tablet in a bath full of water and it has not recovered! If we win it’ll be a LOT of pocket money savings for all of us!
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