when you mentioned in bad memories, peter hearing uncle ben talking about not affording groceries, do you head canon that he always felt guilty/a burden to his aunt and uncle financially at least, even at a young age?
oh absolutely!!! peter’s been wrapped in guilt for so long that it’s basically a second skin. he’s always been a little too smart for his own good, so he notices how when he moves in with ben and may for good, they don’t go to restaurants as often as they used to, and may seems to be at work more often, and countless other little things.
the truth is, peter did put an immense strain on the parkers’ finances. they never, ever, in a million years considered him a burden, but that doesn’t change the fact that kids are expensive. ben and may weren’t rich to begin with, but they got by. it was a lot harder to make that money stretch to cover three.
peter would hide the way his toes would be squashed up in his old shoes because he didn’t want may to go buy him new ones. whenever he saw a box of fruit-roll ups or something on the grocery stores shelves, he’d tamp down on that childish impulse to beg for ben to buy it. for his birthday he’d always ask for new clothes or a backpack or some other necessity that they couldn’t really afford at any other time.
it was crazy stressful for him, but his aunt and uncle never once showed that they regretted taking him in, despite how difficult it made life, and he always felt loved.
