It still makes me laugh — and roll my eyes a bit — that my mum had zero issue with me joining something called the Bubblegum Club, but completely lost her mind when she found out I fancied Basil Brush.
I mean… priorities? 🤣
The Bubblegum Club was pure early-00s energy: neon colours, fizzy competitions, and loyalty points that got you literally nothing except pride. It was my first taste of “membership” — that feeling of belonging, even if it was just to a sugar-fuelled fan club. Mum was fine with that. Encouraging, even.
But then came Basil.
Sweet, silly, dapper Basil.
I can still picture her face when she found out I’d written in my diary that I thought he was cute. Not a real fox crush — more like that weird kid logic where a funny TV character makes you feel… something.
She didn’t get it. I didn’t either, really. I just knew Basil made me feel happy and seen, in that way characters sometimes do when you’re an autistic kid figuring out feelings and belonging.
Looking back, it’s kind of perfect that both things happened.
The Bubblegum Club showed me I wanted to belong.
Basil showed me I already did — in my own weird, wonderful way.
So yes. My mum let me join the Bubblegum Club but freaked out over my Basil Brush crush. And somehow, both shaped who I became: a writer who celebrates the things that once made her feel too much — pink clubs, puppet foxes, and all. 💖🦊
#TVNostalgia #00sChildhood #FromMyMemoryBox #BasilBrush #ADN
Asten Does Nostalgia 
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