Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Class of '18 now in 2019. blimey.

949 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 14/01/2019 10:53

hang on....

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Knotaknitter · 28/01/2019 22:10

I bailed from the FB page when the sobbing started in September. How will I ever manage/what will happen to my life? etc etc. I can't say that I missed it at all.

marmiteloversunite · 28/01/2019 22:24

I only stay on it because sometimes there is advice about financial things /accommodation which are helpful.

marmiteloversunite · 28/01/2019 22:24

Oops terrible grammar there. Sorry!

MsAwesomeDragon · 28/01/2019 22:36

kitten it's not a bad thing to be a bit soppy. And I share your enthusiasm for a nice breakfast, but I do prefer cake. DD had a better cake than normal this year because her friends actually made it (and are quite good bakers), rather than it being a caterpillar cake from the supermarket as is traditional at home. I did feel a little guilty that she had no presents to open, but that's because her present was a laptop which she got early so she could take it with her.

I sometimes think I must be rather hard faced when I read some of the posts on that FB group, or some threads on here (not this one), or even when I talk to some of my real life friends. I don't get soppy at all.

LoniceraJaponica · 28/01/2019 22:44

DD and I are close, and have a great relationship, but I can't wait for her to be more independent. She has had friendship and anxiety issues over the years, and I am over the moon that she has expanded her friendship group by having a job. By the time she goes to university I think she will be more than ready to go.

I once read somewhere that you are only as happy as your least happy child, and I can really relate to this.

So, what I am saying is that as long as DD is happy I don't feel the need to be with her.

TheFirstOHN · 28/01/2019 23:02

I recently posted a picture of DS1 and DS3 in a giant deckchair. No tears here.

PandaG · 28/01/2019 23:04

I'm a bit soppy too, I teared up again when we dropped DS off this term, and I'm pretty sure I will find each drop off tricky. His birthday will always be in the Christmas holidays, but for how many years will he be home? But, we are only sad for us, we will miss them, I'm also so excited to see who and what my DC will become.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 29/01/2019 08:35

I think that's a good summary Panda - sad only for us.
I'm not sat here pining (sp?) though Grin there is something to be said about only having to compromise between one other, rather than the three of us when it comes to things like tv choice.

I realised over Chistmas that both my lifes are nice - the life when dd is here and the life when it's just dh and I. They are just different, that's all.

OP posts:
marmiteloversunite · 29/01/2019 09:00

I think that's a really good way to look at it Kitten. I am a bit of a crier but I tend to have a good cry and then get on with it. We are probably all soppy in our own ways but I don't feel like joining in with the hysteria on Facebook. I am proud of my DD , I miss her but she is having fun and surviving. That was my job to get her there.

ShanghaiDiva · 29/01/2019 10:53

Not aware of the sobbing and hysteria on facebook - thank you great firewall of China!
I do feel a bit upset the day before ds returns to university, but feel fine once he has actually left! 5000 miles is a long way from home and he has coped admirably with the enormous change. The first term was tricky, especially when everyone else went home for the weekend around week 4/5, but he knows more people now and also spends a lot of time doing sport and going to the gym with this gym buddies!
Several of his first year courses are taken by students studying other subjects (eg maths is a requirement for all the management courses, not just the finance students) and ds met another guy this week who is also studying finance. Ds was convinced he was foreign, turns out he's from Northern Ireland. Ds had never heard the accent before.

NoHaudinMaWheest · 29/01/2019 11:45

Ha ha shanghai the Northern Ireland accent can be very distinctive (my sister is married there). I had a friend at university from the Isle of Lewis she was a Gaelic speaker with a very distinctive accent. Her brother's was even stronger and as he was tall, blonde and blue eyed everyone who met him for the first time was convinced he was Norwegian.

I miss dd and do worry about her but I know that she is enjoying herself and doing what she wants to do so don't feel overwhelmed with worry. (Although I am planning to go up for her birthday in March.)

Ds is another matter. I confess to being consumed with worry about him. He is supposed to be resuming studies next week but so far hasn't even managed to get the doctor's note which will allow him to do so.

Nettleskeins · 29/01/2019 12:09

Haudin I saw lots of family members of all ages recently at an event, I realised that there is no limit to the dipping in and out of family support, whatever age your child is, or whatever age you as a "child" are. I think it ebbs and flows, sometimes they really really need us to worry about them, and at other times, we can possibly be confident in their "independence". But it is always changing.

This morning, after a lovely day spent with ds yesterday and Sunday, I can see how the independence has made him more communicative and able to ask for help. So this morning I found myself ringing him at 9.00am to remind him to get up for the first 10am lecture of the term. He asked me if I wouldn't mind doing this, as he says otherwise he has a tendency to just switch the alarm off, and what he needs is a person to talk him "awake". So far, this alarm call has not been requested the whole of last term, or once in the holidays (angry] but once he realised that sometimes it is backfiring, not to ask for help. And he desperately wants to make a success of his sleep patterns and work this term. His work is at a B-/C+ level so I think he is aware that he could do bettter on the organisation/concentration front. So I was glad to help in that small department of "alarm call mum".

He was so sociable yesterday at the family gathering. It is so lovely to see him with this new level of gentle/affable confidence.

Nettleskeins · 29/01/2019 12:14

Haudin I think they found that Hebrideans were genetically all Norse! So perhaps the English language is spoken with a Norse accent! is Lewis a Hebridean island..hope I'm not confusing my highlands and islands?

LoniceraJaponica · 29/01/2019 13:46

Another interview today. DD said she felt it went the best of the three she has had recently. Fingers crossed.

NoHaudinMaWheest · 29/01/2019 14:39

nettles I do the alarm call as well. (though it doesn't always work)

Yes Lewis is in the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) and there was a lot of Viking settlement there - you can tell in the place names - but Gaelic is a Celtic language like Irish and Welsh

OhYouBadBadKitten · 29/01/2019 16:22

That's good Lonicera!

I've just discovered that you can send costa e vouchers for any overly glum hard workers.

OP posts:
NoHaudinMaWheest · 29/01/2019 16:26

My sister has just phoned to say my mum has been taken into hospital with chest pain, though ECG was normal.

Dd has texted to say that her rent payment hasn't gone through. We have had lots of problems with her new account and this is the latest one.

Ds slept all last evening, didn't eat and I eventually woke him at noon. I just can't see him managing classes next week.

Physio appointment for my knee came - 13th March.

If anything else goes wrong, I'm going to hibernate.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 29/01/2019 16:31

arghNoHaudin.
Firstly, I hope your Mum is ok. Do you need to go and see her?
The rent sounds like a priority.

Bugger about the physio appt being so far away, when the first two bits are under control can you phone them and ask for a cancellation slot?

OP posts:
MsAwesomeDragon · 29/01/2019 16:43

no haudin Flowers I hope your mum is ok. Fingers crossed they can figure it out and get it sorted quickly. Can your DD ring the bank to find out why the rent hasn't gone through? Or is it possible for her to pay it online?

MsAwesomeDragon · 29/01/2019 16:44

lonicera fingers crossed your DD gets one of those jobs.

LoniceraJaponica · 29/01/2019 16:47

I hope things look up for you soon NoHaudinMaWheest.

Thank you MsAwesomeDragon

NoHaudinMaWheest · 29/01/2019 16:59

I will wait and see how Mum is before thinking about going up. My brother has gone through to see her so I should have an update soon.

Dd's autism is affecting how she deals with the bank. She can't really use the phone and doesn't have a signal in her room anyway. We decided against online banking as she was worried about it. The only bill she really has to pay is her rent and we thought it was all set up with direct debit. She can't even check her account as she hasn't found an ATM she can reach and the doors to her bank branch are broken meaning that she can't get in easily. I have been to the branch with her to sort things out before and they were very helpful so I am sure they would help. She just needs to try and deal with her fear of talking to strangers.
It is the sort of situation which I thought I might be able to ask my mum to help with but clearly not at the moment.

I really need to go and try and sort ds out this weekend too.

Sorry to dump this on everyone.

NoHaudinMaWheest · 29/01/2019 18:38

Mum had a heart attack. They are putting a stent in now and she will be transferred to coronary care. She seems to be stable at the moment but my brother will speak to the doctors later and let me know.

LoniceraJaponica · 29/01/2019 18:49

Oh no. I hope she makes a speedy recovery Flowers

marmiteloversunite · 29/01/2019 18:54

Hope she is feeling better soon Haudin. What a worry for you. X

Swipe left for the next trending thread