Multicoloured Cup sets
Growing up, I had a great childhood, I was loved & cared for, even though my Mum & Dad split up when I was 3 years old, it didn't change anything. We weren't extremely well off, but we got by & I have lots of fond memories of my mum ordering us a munchie box most Friday nights, while she had her usual 4 seasons pizza, which consisted of chicken, sweetcorn, peppers & mushrooms, the most basic pizza, you could buy, but that didn't stop us from being cheeky & asking for a slice after we had demolished our munchie box, between the 3 of us. The only thing left in that box would be the vegetable & mushroom pakora, because none of us kids liked it. But my mum did, so it seemed like a fair trade. It's funny because the mushroom pakora is now my favourite, whenever we're ordering in, I'll order a separate mushroom pakora for myself.
My mum is a great mum, she has a love for owls, so naturally recieves at least one owl related present, at every gift giving opportunity. Her house is full of them. She loves her shopping channels & always has something new to show me, that she's bought late at night. Whenever I'm in need of a babysitter she is my go to, because I know she will help me in a heartbeat. She would take us out at the weekends, when we were younger & spend as much time as she could before returning to work on a Monday morning to provide for us & pay a mortgage. Now as a child we would take that for granted & it was always want, want, want! Barbie dolls, Polly pockets & baby Annabel. The boys would ask for action men, tamagotchi & pokemon cards. Then the older we got & the more advanced technology got, we were asking for xbox, play station, wii, & mobile phones as well as all the other usual stuff. On Christmas morning there was always 3 huge bags sitting in front of the fire place, filled with toys & other gadgets & things we had asked for throughout the year.
My Mum was strict though, when out shopping, we would push our luck & ask over & over for the toys that overflowed in the toy aisles. But how can you blame us, these amazing, colourful, aisles were a kids wonderland, Heaving with all the toys we'd circled multiple times in the argos catalogue, just waiting to be touched from our grubby little fingers. She'd only put up with so much, then she would get this look of rage on her face, her eyes would spark fire & she would slowly start raising her voice, getting slightly louder with each word she said, until our jaws dropped & our faces turned beetroot with embarrassment, realising we took it too far we'd back down & stay quiet, hoping she would stop before the whole shop heard. "Okay, okay, okay, sorry" we'd say & my mum, with a smirk, would carry on with whatever item of clothing she was looking at.
Typical children & now I'm in the same boat, experiencing everything I put mum through, with my own children, but I will not admit that to my Mum because I know she would take great pleasure in knowing that information.
My Dad, on the other hand was laid back but had this uncanny ability to get us to stop misbehaving with one single look & we knew instinctively not to push him past the level of giving us "the look" Now don't get me wrong, we had no idea what punishment waited for us if we ever misbehaved past "the look" that was scary enough & we weren't willing to find out. He had our respect & even now as a grown adult, if he shouts on me with his booming, gruff voice, still that little voice in my head thinks "oh shit, what have I done" even though I haven't done anything, he just has such a deep, roaring voice. My Dad is a huge Marvel fan & I can guarantee, he's seen every single Marvel film, animation & cartoon. In fact he loves it that much, when he was doing up his kitchen, the back wash board behind the cooker, had to include a glass framed poster of all the Marvel characters. Much to his wife's derision. He was fun loving growing up & I remember many BB gun fights & going camping during the summer months, Sunday dinners alternating each week between my Gran's & my Dad's house. He loved on us all the time with kisses, cuddles & play fighting. We'd stay at my dad's most Saturday nights & our nights would be spent watching different movies, obviously anything Marvel goes but also Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, Star Wars & Star Trek, to name a few. All with a big bowl of salty, buttery popcorn & hot chocolate in our "special" mugs. He'd bought several matching sets of dishes that included, a bowl, plate, knife, fork, spoon & a mug. One blue, one pink, one purple & one green set.
Anyway, I ended up with the pink set, I remember none of us were happy with the colours we had chosen but we couldn't change them because my Dad believed they were chosen fair & square. When I think back, he made it overly complicated, my sister wanted pink, I liked the purple & my brothers liked the blue & green, that seemed like an easy choice to me. Being older now & having my own children, I understand why he did it the way he did. But I still wanted the purple!
I guess some part of me wanted my mum & dad to be together when I was a kid, what child wouldn't want that. But I was also glad they weren't together because it meant 2 Christmases, 2 lots of presents at birthdays, & we had somewhere to go when we needed away from our mums for a while. Maturity helped us see that having two happy parents that are separated was better than two miserable parents, who stayed together for the sake of their children. We'd be at my dad's on Easter & he would do a huge Easter egg hunt with us & have us decorate the eggs with paints, pens, & glitter, lots & lots of glitter. My Dad despises the stuff, so it made it all the more fun! He'd find it for weeks and weeks afterwards & it's something that I can wind him up with now.
I have a good relationship with both of them, although I don't see my Dad much, as he stays in Aberdeen, but when he does visit, we pick up right where we left off, as if he never left. He waltzes in, winds up my children, gets them all nice & hyped up, hands them sweets & then leaves. A true Papa! Muttering how it's my turn under his breath as he walks out the door. Thanks Dad!
My mum has always shown her affections in a different way, she's never been the cuddly type, her way is to be there, to buy us things, to offer to watch our children & to nag at us just a little bit, but I know she cares in her own way. My Nan tells me she is definitely on the spectrum for autism, same as my grandad, we just don't know how autistic she is. I now know how much she's done for me & I could not ask for a better mum. I'll take all the nagging & telling off, as long as she keeps being her & keeps being around. I just hope my children feel the same way, when they're older & come to know, I'm doing the best I can for them. Mother knows best!
