Pocket Money – Give us a penny or two….

Do you give your kids ‘pocket money’? When I first heard this term it reminded me of Charles Dickens – it still does! It somehow sounds oldy worldy to me but now I use it regularly as I would have used ‘weekly allowance’ if I were bringing up my kids in the USA. Pocket money sounds more playful and fun, which is what it actually relates to. It sounds as though you are literally giving pennies instead of pound coins and that a penny will buy a piece of candy (a sweet) and you’d get some change back! I love it and although I don’t give my kids pocket money every single week (but they do get their ‘pocket money’ in different forms, ie phone contract etc), I like saying “Save up your pocket money” or “Here’s your pocket money” and other phrases that involve pocket money.

My son spends most of his pocket money at the corner shop. I love this as well. Where I grew up, we didn’t have a corner shop – they were not ubiquitous as they are here. Corner shops seem to be so much a part of British culture. Our first home in Nottingham had one directly across the street! I was so intrigued that I spent most of my money in there on a daily basis. It was a tiny shop with a tiny doorway, but full to bursting with all the usual suspects found in the British corner shop. My son is now at an age where he likes to ‘pop’ to the shop to spend his pocket money or pick up the bread for lunchboxes (this is quite handy) and I really can’t imagine living in a place where one doesn’t have a corner shop at the end of one’s road. He comes back with the most bizarre toxic sweets sometimes. It always amazes me how you can buy your entire supper from a corner shop. Has ‘saved my bacon’ on a few occassions when I haven’t had time to do the grocery shop! Ah, I have turned British in so many ways!

 

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