Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Further education

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

Original poster

Thread 25 - Covid Cohort - Christmas Trees, No Omicron Please!

989 replies

OrangeCinnamonCocktail · 12/12/2021 17:15

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to posts about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this goodwill continues.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided, for anyone interested, they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Orange Cinnamon (Head Monitor Xmas Wink)
Previous Thread Found Here

Thread 25 - Covid Cohort - Christmas Trees, No Omicron Please!
OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
EwwSprouts · 18/12/2021 12:37

I guess it's semantics and reading between the lines. You've both taken the same action.

Delphigirl · 18/12/2021 13:49

DS’s highly competent and frankly scary 15yo sister has taken DS off for interview prep for his Southampton interview, his personal statement in hand… she looks like she means business. I expect the real thing will be a doddle after this 😁

ealingwestmum · 18/12/2021 14:17

Grin Delphigirl

EwwSprouts · 18/12/2021 14:20

Delphi I like her confidence, she will go far.

Original poster
OrangeCinnamonCocktail · 18/12/2021 14:25

@Delphigirl

DS’s highly competent and frankly scary 15yo sister has taken DS off for interview prep for his Southampton interview, his personal statement in hand… she looks like she means business. I expect the real thing will be a doddle after this 😁
Love it!
OP posts:
Monkey2001 · 18/12/2021 14:40

Haha @Delphigirl I often think it is fascinating to look at Siblings and how different they are in spite of similar upbringing. What does she want to do?

Volterra · 18/12/2021 14:58

Nothing like a scary sibling to get them sorted 😂

Is there a sore throat and feeling rough thing doing the rounds? Friend who was here a couple of days ago has take a PCR as feeling rough, LTF is negative. Odds are she has something else aren't they with a negative LTF?

ExquisitelyDecorated · 18/12/2021 15:03

3 of us have had a non-Covid cough/cold in the last couple of weeks @Volterra (all pcr and lft negative).

Volterra · 18/12/2021 15:13

Sorry you had it but that’s encouraging, thank you!

Alsoplayspiccolo · 18/12/2021 15:15

We’ve got/had a horrible cold/cough with negative LFT/PCR too.
Seemingly, there’s a nasty non-Covid one doing the rounds.
I’ve felt really rough with it and embarrassed to go out today, because I can’t stop coughing once I start.

AnneOfCleavage · 18/12/2021 15:19

Woah Heifer that is an eye opening list of symptoms, many of which I have.

Delphi I could only have dreamed of being so confident at15 as your DD. Learned it much later and hope I've passed on to DD some of it as she is more assertive than me although can also be a walkover when put under pressure example being she said yes to paying a good amount of money to an older student selling her A level notes but has no intention of using them but didn't want to let her down as she had asked her first - grrr. I'm stuck with boxes and boxes of notes, flash cards etc for two subjects cluttering up my tiny dining room.

We are in a dilemma as DD wants her boyfriend to come and stay when he was meant to after Christmas til New Year but he's in Scotland, we are in England and I'm so nervous of him not being able to get home and she has Uni interviews to prepare for and every day we put it off his train ticket goes up as he hasn't booked it yet. Arrghh. He's not even single jabbed so I'm pretty nervous as we live in a busy town and him an isolated place. We are waiting for the impending announcement of tightened rules.

Volterra · 18/12/2021 15:20

It’s horrible coughing in public. I carry cough sweets permanently these days in case I start with a coughing fit which I sometimes randomly get. Hope you feel better very soon Piccolo and anyone else feeling rough 💐

AnneOfCleavage · 18/12/2021 15:22

Volterra sorry to say that my LFT didn't show up when I had sore throat and cold-y symptoms and a PCR did. I was LFTing every day as was so sure I had it and I did. LFT only turned positive when it was blindingly obvious I had it.
Hope it is just a cold though as there is obviously normal colds going around. 🤞🤞

AnneOfCleavage · 18/12/2021 15:24

Volterra I was at the theatre in the week and sneaking chocolate eclairs to eat under my mask. Got really thirsty because of them which made me start coughing and I was so embarrassed as I literally was choking coughing for a good minute and a half. DD was so embarrassed.

ExquisitelyDecorated · 18/12/2021 15:27

I got sent home from work after literally one cough on Weds as a precaution. Even with pcr negative they don't want me back in till I'm completely better (understandably) because if you catch this off me you then have the stress of pcr and the wait for results. Yesterday the DCs wanted a lift to nearest big town for Christmas shopping so I took them but grabbed a coffee and sat in a wide open bit of shopping mall away from everyone else, didn't go in any shops. I'm going into our town shortly but haven't really coughed since getting up today, I will still get in and out of shops as fast as possible.

BlueMarigold · 18/12/2021 15:28

Just logged into the UCAS page and it says the application is currently unavailable. Is anyone else getting that?

Volterra · 18/12/2021 15:33

Oh no Anne, that’s horrible - always happen at the worst possible time. Interesting the LTF didn’t pick yours up. She was doing a haircut so we did have masks on which is something. She was saying the mask was making her throat really dry and I did for a moment think, oh...

DD coming tomorrow as long as her PCR is clear that she did as friends on her course went down with it. Dad coming next week, no idea what they’ve been up to. We’re doing Christmas on 22nd which seems a bit so near yet so far at the moment !

Delphigirl · 18/12/2021 15:56

Thank you for kind comments about DD! She has everything all planned out (I keep telling to keep an open mind but hey ho). She has GCSEs this year, then is going to do geography, politics, economics and Spanish A levels plus Arabic ab initio on the side. She is also a good coder and does those Cyberfirst summer courses which she will probably keep up. She then wants to go to McGill or UBC and focus on social sciences.
After that who knows. She is a great problem-solver who always measures off the charts for spatial ability, but I don’t know where all that will lead. We joke that she will end up running Mi5.

Zebracat · 18/12/2021 16:30

Ooh I do love a super bright kid.What are McGill and UBC? Ahh British Columbia. Our girls been doing Cambridge Foundation stuff today. Quite personal, and therefore difficult. I felt a bit cross, and disinclined to help because my tablet had to be replaced yesterday and she implied that we spend the allowance we get for her on ourselves, and we do not. But then I reminded myself that our birth children could be equally entitled if we bought anything for us. Teenagers can be arses.

Monkey2001 · 18/12/2021 16:39

@AnneOfCleavage why is the BF unvaccinated? I would not have him to stay until he is vaccinated unless there is a good reason. I would say a vaccine denier is not good BF material!

Monkey2001 · 18/12/2021 16:47

My London family seem to think it is inevitable that everyone will get Covid and it is not worth trying too hard to avoid it, so they are encouraging my parents to spend Christmas day with my brother and family although they will be on day 8 of isolation. We country folk don't like them taking the risk!Sad

icanbewhatiwant · 18/12/2021 17:03

We have unvaccinated family coming Boxing Day. They had covid back in Oct. They are very anti taking any medication that doesn't need to be taken. So won't have vaccines. They are eating with us boxing. They only eat organic (I'm ignoring as can't afford everything organic) they don't eat grains (not allergic) dairy or anything sweet. So I'm struggling a bit.

Ds2 is doing daily LFT's. Is that enough? Should we book a pcr? He sat next to a lad all day weds who had a cold. Next day he was off as worse, then did pcr which was positive. The thing putting me off pcr is the fact ds1 sent his off on the Tuesday and results came Sunday eve. That is a very long wait if isolating. A friend's dh and Ds sent one off a week before ours and waited 6 days for results. Dh has had a cold and has done 4 LFT's. All negative. He is almost better now, I'd like to hope they'd pick covid up when there's symptoms.

Ds2 has just asked for tickets to see Harry Hill for a Christmas present. It's not until Nov. 2022 he will hopefully be at university then, so will need to travel home. I didn't know he was that much of a fan of Harry Hill.

ExquisitelyDecorated · 18/12/2021 18:52

@icanbewhatiwant If DS2 doesn't have symptoms LFTs are all that is required now though, PCR is for those with symptoms. If he does need a PCR is there a drive-in or walk-in pcr centre near you? We had ours back in 24 and 36 hours from those this earlier this week. I agree the self-isolation while you wait for results is off-putting though..

icanbewhatiwant · 18/12/2021 19:57

@ExquisitelyDecorated I wasn't sure if Ds counts as a close contact.

ExquisitelyDecorated · 18/12/2021 21:20

Close contacts do the 7 days worth of LFT now instead of PCR, only need to do a pcr if the LFT is positive or symptoms develop. Assuming he is jabbed.