As a tween (but long before that phrase was coined) I would go to town on a Saturday with my dad whilst my mum worked. I always felt grown up as I would also make the lunch for the three of us. It would invariably be tinned new potatoes, corned beef and some peas. I would make gallons of mint sauce and liberally douse the lunch in vinegar. This chore would go towards earning me my pocket money. That pocket money would be spent on sweets from the Spar – those were the days you had a paper bag and pointed at the penny sweets you wanted in your selection. Black jacks, fruit salads, pink shrimps and white mice were my staples. Other weeks that money would be saved and I would head to the shops with dad if it was a birthday or special occasion that I needed to buy a gift for. Take Mothers Day for example where I would buy mum some little ornament with my two pound and then hide it away until the day itself. There was a little shop at the lower end of Cheltenham High Street I think it was called the Kitchen Shop, it has long gone now but that was where I headed. I guess today’s equivalent is something similar to Tiger.
Now I find that my children do similar things. The presents that we are given by our children are always priceless, especially if chosen with love and thought and they have saved that pocket money just for you. Children today could find just what they are looking for in Hawkins Bazaar where there are many gifts ideal for Mum on Mothers Day. Here are a selection of my favourite offerings and if my children bought me any of these I would be one happy mummy.

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