UEA (2019) dealing with the unexpected and on to 2nd Year

[juicy0]

New thread for the parents of 2019 freshers. Thank you all for sticking around!
At the start of the year we never would have guessed the topics that are currently being discussed in this page but I'm grateful we still have each other to help navigate our way through this with our DC.
With the emptying of 1st year rooms seemingly on hold for many until the end of lockdown our thoughts will soon turn to 2nd year accommodation and whether term is likely to start as normal in September.

Yes my ds is getting up late too, about 2pm. Ds2 age 16 is getting up around 4pm. Ds3 is only 11 even he has been getting up around 10am. I'm tempted to start turning Wi-fi off at 11pm 😂 (the youngest isn't on it that late)

Ds1 got in a strop the other night....all his clothes I washed from UEA were outside his room, neatly folded and ironed. I had been adding to the pile as I washed more. He just took anything he wanted to wear off the pile but left it on the landing. Numerous times I asked him to take them in his room and put them away. 3 weeks later they were still there, ds sat at the table waiting for his evening meal, when DH told him he had to go up and put the clothes away before he ate dinner. Off ds went. 5 mins later I dish up...no ds. I called upstairs to be told he wasn't hungry and wasn't eating 😩 he doesn't seem to want to do anything to help. I'm certainly not unreasonable asking him to put his clothes away. Hd does nothing else. He doesn't see why I put his 11 year brothers stuff in drawers and not his. I've obviously spoilt them all over the years! Not sure if their future wives will be impressed!

I hope everyone is keeping well. Also that those who were poorly are now better. Persuading dh that he can't go out isn't easy. But he's finally getting the message! Ds1 has been on the odd walk. Ds2 hasn't left the house since his last day of school! Dd3 I am insisting he walks with me. Our puppy is keeping us all entertained too. Not sure what she will think when life finally returns to normal and we aren't all home all day.

Keep well everyone.

DS just informed me he had to fill out a form regarding accommodation by 5th April, he hadn’t done it 😳 it’s not like he’s been rushed off his feet....

Oh dear @Itscoldouthere - DS nearly didn't submit it in time because the Accommodation Office seems to flit between sending comms to home and/or university email addresses which confuses matters. He hadn't checked both.

I think submitting a few days late just means that the termination will be dated from the date the form was submitted rather than the 30th March, so he may have a small sum to pay?

I can totally relate with what you're reporting @icanbewhatiwant - DD is like your DS1. There has been a pile of her clothes sitting on the landing for at least three weeks - and she has the temerity to complain when the cats sit on the pile of clothes leaving fur on them. Of course none of it is her fault - GRRRRR.

We are all getting into slack routines in this house. I have to be up for office hours three days of the week but the youngsters seem to be catching up on lots of sleep. DS usually surfaces ahead of DD but she is an owl and he is more of a lark.

We are all keeping well at the moment.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 it’s so frustrating as he’s had nothing else of importance taking up his time! Still it’s only a week so hopefully won’t cost too much.
He was a bit unwell at the weekend and we were a bit worried as we’d just finished 14 days isolation because of DS1, but whatever it was it wasn’t Coronavirus as he was sick a couple of times, he felt better the day after.
My friends DD has just developed mumps having been home from Exeter uni for almost 3 weeks, poor girl.
I’ve run out of motivation for packing and can’t seem to get anything finished properly. At least we have the dog to walk although I’ve just had to bath him as he rolled in a dead vole on our walk today, he was so pleased with himself, until I washed him!
I know what you mean about D.C. and the clean washing pile.... we have the same, tons of washing back from UEA all sitting on the floor in piles.

At least they are good company, sometimes, we’ve been playing UNO in the evenings which is entertaining.
DS1 tried to get us to watch Tiger King as a family, but one episode was enough for me, not my type of thing at all, but the boys thought it was fascinating....

What's Tiger King about @Itscoldouthere - it rings a vague bell. Is it on Netflix?

Not surprised you've run out of motivation for packing when you don't know when you'll be able to move. I've pretty much run out of motivation to do much. I seem to be spending more time than usual on basic kitchen duties despite everyone being at home to help - well in theory. I have got DS making dinner again tonight as he needs the practice and I don't!

Mumps! Yikes. Strangely I have been feeling a bit 'glandy' over the past couple of days (it doesn't seem to have developed it anything more sinister to date though).I did consider mumps but discounted it as I had it as a child.

Glad your DS is feeling better now too.

Good to hear that the puppy is providing lots of entertainment @icanbewhatiwant. Our cats are a great source of comfort although they are very fussy about what they'll eat and seem to cost more to feed than we humans.

I hear what you're saying about payments to the DC @sluj. I'm a bit worried that my job may be vulnerable in coming months though, so I think I'd rather keep up payments to DS short-term just in case I find myself unable to do so later on in the year. Having the summer term rent money in hand though makes a big difference, I would have thought.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 it’s on Netflix, in brief Tiger King is about people who keep tigers in America (so many of them) but they are crazy, it includes drugs, guns, murder plots, completely mad and over the top.

Not my cup of tea, I hate animal parks and crazy American fame seekers, so it wasn’t for me. I’ve been rewatching Wolf Hall so you can see I’m on another wavelength 🤣

We’ve got the problem of being paid in Canada and all our money is there, it’s proving so complicated to get the money here, we also have to pay rent for our apartment in Canada (which is currently sitting empty) due to the banking system we can’t pay directly from our account in Canada but instead have to transfer the money to the uk then send back to our landlords in Canada, this means paying fees each time and having the rate set by the bank, it’s really doing our heads in. We might have to raid the children’s savings if we get stuck, or use their student loans 😂

Thank god for G&T time, I’m definately going to come come out of this fatter and needing to address drinking too much (only have 1 or 2 but it’s getting more frequent 😳).

Hope your job stays stable, it’s so worrying isn’t it. I’d not taken on any work for this year due to the Canada move, but as a wedding florist all work is on hold anyway, my work colleagues are having such tricky times as no money coming in at all.

I keep thinking will we all be changed forever, or will we just slip back into our old lives, everything is now so unknown.

Tiger King?? I am forcing mine to watch Mallory Towers on the iplayer

@sluj Malory towers? Is that the same as the Enid Blyton books I once read? I loved those books as a child.

I just suddenly thought...we emptied ds's room. When we'd taken everything out I went back in to his room, stood on the chair and checked on top of wardrobe and shelves to see if we'd left anything. Double checked wardrobe and under the bed. Double checked shower room. It suddenly came to me this morning...there were drawers in the desk. I didn't look in them or empty them 😫 just hoping ds's passport wasn't in them. He took it as he thought he'd need it for his new accommodation.

No he does have the passport. We didn't empty the desk drawer though. Hopefully nothing too important in there.

I still haven't got round to watching Mallory Towers although it's on my 'watch' list @Sluj

Yes, it's easy to miss something even doing a through check. Not quite in the same league but I usually manage to leave one random Christmas decoration up, hiding in plain sight. It happens every year...

@Itscoldouthere how frustrating with your DH's pay and all the additional banking admin you're having to do.

Hopefully, the wedding industry will recover so that you will be in demand.

We don't rely on my money but it helps with extras and paying off additional chunks of the mortgage. Maybe it's time for me to look for something else.

Anyone else's DC refusing to do much? I tried to get DS to sign up to go and pick fruit/vegetables but he seems to think himself above manual labour. I think it would be good for him but he's not budging...

Yes, it's Enid Blyton. Its updated a little bit with more diverse classmates but other than that, its quite a good and authentic attempt. Its all on iplayer and only 25 minutes per episode. Good escapism viewing.
DS2 made flapjacks today with supervision from me. First question " what does grease the sandwich tin mean"? They tasted pretty good though.

All 3 of mine are very lazy. Obviously the youngest can't work...he's 11. But the older 2 can when we are able to return to work. Ds2 had a summer job at the local plant nursery, due to start mid June. I'm not sure it'll go ahead now. Ds1 has a summer job where he worked last summer, due to start mid July. He tests the crops for diseases and bugs etc. as they come off the fields. So that job will definitely be going ahead. But it's a long time till mid July 😩
Meantime no doubt they will do nothing!

DS has now had his rental docs through for his house for next year, and I have the guarantor document. There are a few things to query, but I am relieved that things are moving and things can be organised remotely. DS is very miserable at the moment though as he should have been on the hockey tour to Amsterdam right now. He went down the virtual pub on FaceTime with his flat mates last night, which was good, but he is feeling short changed out of his first year and a bit sorry for himself.

Happy Easter to everyone.

@GoldenRuby suspect this lockdown will impact more on the students who are very go-getting (not DS for sure!). What makes it worse is that the lockdown clearly isn't working - just heard that we are on target to have the worst death toll in Europe :-(

Yes Happy Easter people.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes our death rate is fairly on par with Italy at the moment. We can't go by confirmed cases as other countries are testing more. It doesn't seem too bad round here in east Anglia, compared to bigger cities. I do worry that when London and bigger cities get over the worst that it may get a lot worse round here as not so many have had it.

@icanbewhatIwant DS is getting very frustrated by what he sees as the government's failure to get on top of COVID-19 sooner. I still don't get why other countries are testing so widely and we aren't. I know there is the issue of having viable and reliable tests but you're not telling me that the Germans haven't aced this. Why is there no sharing of info to ensure that we can develop equally good tests? Or are we saying that PHE doesn't believe the German ones to be accurate/robust enough?

It seems to me that we are experiencing the worst of both worlds at the moment.

I guess if we are nearly at 10K deaths, in theory we must be nearing the (Imperial modelled and predicted) peak?

What worries me is that we've all been freaked out by the news bulletins, so when we are once again allowed to venture out, will many people want to unless they know they've had it?

I guess East Anglia benefits from being relatively sparsely populated which helps to prevent spread. Looking at the state of the Tube trains and how rammed in everyone is on a normal weekday, it's not at all surprising that the contagion took hold in London.

Happy Easter everyone, I hope you are all safe and well and coping with lockdown.

As others have said DD is very up and down. She def feels short changed on the end of Year 1 and with signs that the lockdown isn't working she feels doubtful that Year 2 will start as normal in September. She has signed a lease for private accommodation in a house share with 3 others which we start paying for in July and Im really hoping they can move in as planned in September. Her summer work as a wedding waitress has fallen through so apart from a couple of essays to finish she doesn't have much to do for the foreseeable and she's finding that difficult.

We are pretty sure she's had Covid which resulted in a brief visit to hospital a couple of weeks ago but without a test we can't be sure. Whatever it was it has left her with severe anxiety about mixing with other people as she's terrified of getting that ill again. I'm considering paying for a private test so that if she has had it she can be reassured that she's unlikely to get it again.

DS, 15, is taking isolation the hardest of us all and is devastated at the thought he may not go back to school this year both from an academic and social point of view. He is a bright lad and when his brain isn't being stretched he struggles. He's learning a new language online, has logged in to optional lessons online that his school have organised during the hols and has been teaching himself guitar via YouTube tutorials but he's not in a good place. Any ideas how I can help him?

Let's hope the end of the week brings some
Positive news and perhaps an indication of a possible loosening or restrictions by the end of May if not before.

My oldest 2 seem to be ok with staying home so far.

@juicy0 is there a private test to be done for covid? I didn't know that. You don't think they won't go back sept do you? I hope so. I'm still hopeful my 11 year old will get to finish primary school. Even just 2 weeks in July. It will be very sad if he doesn't. That will be a lot of growing up for year 6's finishing year 6 half way through and moving up to secondary school. But they'll all be in the same boat.

If they return to school/university etc. this covid will still be going about which is quite worrying.

Well...I spent ages writing out clues and hiding eggs for my 11 year old last night...only to be told that it's stupid. He won't go find them 😩

Hope all on the UEA thread had a good Easter. Ours was nice, quiet of course, we had a long dog walk, went to a part of the local river that is really only known about by local dog walkers, a kind of pool area ( we have swam there in the past) we were there all alone so had a sit down and relax in the sun together which was lovely.
DS1 (Bournemouth) was start of term yesterday, so he had a chat with a tutor (he’d been referred on an essay due to it not being long enough) which was really good as he had a really good chat with him about his dyslexia and the tutor gave him lots of tips and encouragement. He has a new project, so will have to get back to doing some work.
DS2 (UEA) is being very lazy and not really doing uni work as far as I can see, he did play Dragons and Dungeons with friend from his flat yesterday, I’m glad he’s keeping in touch with his flat mates.
No news on our move, I’ve stopped packing as I ran out of enthusiasm, once I know (hopefully they will announce on Thursday) what’s happening the lockdown, I can make some more plans.
It’s all a bit unreal here, I feel like we are in a bubble, it feels so normal, the suns shining, birds are singing I’m gardening, dog walking and deciding what to make for supper, then everyday I hear the hospital figures and feel like it all happening somewhere else. It doesn’t feel right to feel so detached from it all, but I’m doing what they’ve asked us to do, just staying at home. Do others feel like this? I feel so useless.

@Itscoldouthere the move situation must be frustrating, you are in limbo really. It probably doesn't feel worth gardening ready for someone else. We moved 2 years ago and the last summer in our old garden I didn't really feel much enthusiasm, knowing we'd soon move.

Ds1 has done a little work for university but I don't think he's got much to do. I hope they get set more soon. He said so many lectures were cancelled with the strikes that they don't have a lot to do.

Yes it does feel like it's happening somewhere else. I'm not working, but I only work part time anyway. I'm gardening and dog walking as usual so it's easy to forget what is happening. We don't see many people when we walk, but when we do I have to remember not to stand too close. I met a dad from the primary school a few days ago while walking. His wife works at one of the local health centres, he said they haven't seen or heard of any patients with covid 19 at their health centre. I know we've had some at ours. That makes me a bit worried that once we all go out again that it may get a lot worse in places like here, if we haven't had a lot of cases.

I'm still wondering if the younger ones will return to school this school year. I hope so. My year 6 needs school to keep him sane. The older 2 are fine at home. We already know ds2 in year 11 won't return. The universities obviously won't as they finished mid June anyway. I don't think ds is in contact with many, he's not really friends with the current flatmates but gets on with the new group he will live with September. He's missing his girlfriend though. He has a holiday booked with his old school mates mid June. Not sure he will be going. (Only in uk)

Has anyone else applied for student finance for next year? (as in sept onwards)
Ds has applied. I clicked on support this student and it says I need do nothing as already given details last year. But that year they are asking 2019/2019 our earnings were way lower. Is there a way to fill it in?

@icanbewhatiwant we did DS's student finance form yesterday. Fairly straightforward for us as our circumstances haven't (as yet - touch wood) changed, but I am sure there is a way to tell them that yours have.

Well, DS has finally got his house tenancy agreement for next year through, and that and the guarantor doc are now signed. I just hope he will get to use it and we aren't in a rolling lockdown. We asked if we could delay the start date (without changing the end date) on the tenancy in case they aren't able to be back at the start of Sept, but the agent/landlord refused, which was frustrating but not unexpected.

@GoldenRuby there is no option to add an income. It just says there will be no change. That's annoying as ds could get more of a loan.

I was reading an article online about results day for GCSEs as I wanted to know when ds2 will get them. In the same article it said universities are considering starting in September with online lectures. There was me hoping for a return to normal.

@icanbewhatiwant I'm keeping everything crossed that our DC can return in sept to start their second year. I had a quick look at the UEA website advice for applicants today and it says they're still hoping to start as normal in September but who knows? I have heard via a teacher friend that unis could start home students with face to face teaching in sept with international students remaining at home via virtual learning with a view to returning to the uk in January.

Medic son is having Skype tutorials but geography son doesn't appear to be doing anything. He is appearing just before lunch to have his breakfast and then disappearing back into his room or towards the xbox in the snug. I think he thinks this will be the pattern of his life till September