Heading towards 4th year or post grad/jobs

[Xenia]

Continuation of the previous thread for those of us with children who are just finishing their 3rd year at university (so either "graduating" in 2020 or going into year 4 in Autumn 2020)..........

My twins' degree results will be out in late July. Good luck to everyone else waiting for finals results.

December is usually my busiest month because DH and I (pre Covid) take January off work to go travelling. Obviously that can’t happen this year and DH is going to be heavily involved in the Covid vaccinations.

Darent set a countdown as to when we can restart our planned country move.

Yes @Malbecfan / whilst it’s a bit sad going into primary schools and not seeing them all practising for their Christmas shows, behaviour is better as they are doing normal work!

Ooh @Parker231 that sounds exciting...

@bigTillyMint yes, it is a bit sad but I am quite enjoying it. I'm a secondary specialist and took on a job at my local primary, supposedly teaching KS2 Music. I did 2 years of that and this term they asked me to work with a mixed R/y1 class. Honestly, year 10 boys are so much simpler than small children. But I have given it my best shot. One of SLT is a reception teacher and walked in to see the children reading and clapping (simple) rhythms. She decided that I had to teach all Reception too. This week and next the regular teachers are having parent consultations online in the afternoons so people like me & the TAs are running the show. I am really laid back about it all and quite enjoyed doing "maths" with reception then helping them dress up to act out the nativity scene. However, there is no way that I could do that full-time!

@Malbecfan!

I do sing at my piano most days so not an entirely singing free Christmas here. Whether I can persuade the children when more are home remains to be seen despite all those years of getting them all through singing exams.

Bristol son is now coming home on Monday to work for the exams that start on Thursday. I am happy to support whatever decisions he takes to do as well as he can in the exams and he says here is much quieter (their Bristol house is near a main street) and then he is going back on 16th for a short while until Christmas - certainly back here by or before 23rd. That has cost me over £100 for his return ticket and the new 3 year railcard he thought he would tack on but it is in the greater good of his passing, we hope, the law exams so I can take the hit.

Daughter 2 got engaged yesterday so there will be a wedding in 2021 although in 2020 we have had total wedding ban - lock down 1, then 30 allowed, then 15, then in second lockdown only a wedding if you are dying and now back to 15 guests so goodness know if I will even be allowed by law to attend never mind the siblings....... Anyway we are all really happy about the engagement particularly as their trip away to a hotel for the proposal had to be postponed from last month due to lock down 2.

And in other good news our offer was accepted on house yesterday - the last one in my plan of helping all 5 children to buy a first property so it feels a bit like the end of an era for me (although I expect it will take 2 or 3 months to complete the purchase).

Malbec I know - I was married to an organist and director of music in a school for about 20 years. It is the busiest time normally and in his case goes right to the line - mid night mass then Christmas morning service to play for.

Congratulations to your DD @Xenia!

Thanks. They had a weekend booked away in November when I think the engagement was originally planned or hoped for which due to lock down 2 had to be put off so they rebooked for immediately lockdown 2 ended and all was well. They are both very happy so that's good news in a very bleak year.

Ah, that's lovely news about your daughter, Xenia. 🥂

Congrats to your DD Xenia, nice news in a bleak year. 🙂

DS2 is still working hard, he seems to be constantly working - not sure if it's because there's more content, or if it just seems that way because I didn't see how much effort he put in for his degree, as he was in his uni city then? 🤔

Anyway, whichever it is, he's getting on with it!

He should have been playing footy today - first match after Lockdown 2 but it's been called off due to waterlogged pitch. 😟

We're hoping to drag him out shopping with us tomorrow - he still hasn't chosen his 21st birthday present (watch) as he hadn't even started looking when it was his birthday, then it was lockdown & then he was away all summer. I'd like him to have it before he turns 22! 😆

@Horsemad, what a shame about waterlogged pitch. DS says no word about his restarting, maybe because they are supposed to be going home?

Hope you manage to get out with your son tomorrow, Horsemad. A watch is such a classic 21st present, and something that will always feel special when he wears it.

It sounds like a break would do him good.

I've braved the Trafford Centre today. I arrived at 10 am and was all done by 1pm. I had a plan in my head and I've pretty much cleared mine, my mum's and my MiL's lists so it feels like time well spent. I think I've officially admitted to being middle aged as I took along the wheeled trolley that I usually reserve for the Tatton RHS Flower Show. My arms and shoulders are thanking me for it now though.

Thanks @latedecember1963. He DOES need some time away from his desk. 🙂 I'm impressed at your shopping - I am hopelessly late this year, tbf I'm last minute most years! 😆 I hate thinking what to buy people.

@bigTillyMint, yes possibly because end of term is almost here? DS gas really missed playing uni football. He had a crazy plan to go up every Wednesday for footy until his uni city became one of the worst affected for Covid & it became obvious to him it couldn't happen!

We managed quite flukily to time our half term visit with DSs first match this season. Just a friendly, but do good to see him play. I think he played one proper match before lockdown 2

Congrats to your DD @Xenia. That's lovely news.

@latedecember1963 I'm quite a fan of the Trafford Centre but not been there for ages. Perhaps when my dad eventually goes back north, I'll have a good session there....

Congratulations to Xenia's dd and to Xenia, your last time being mother of the bride? (Mother of the groom always seems a bit less major to me even as the mother of sons myself)

We have ds home! He suddenly announced he'd had his negative test and could he have a lift, despite having told us last week that he planned to stay at uni right up til Christmas. He even missed his first footy match post lockdown today to get a lift home. (This is unprecedented behaviour for ds and I'm slightly suspicious why. ) DS says it's because he wants to be ultra careful for his grandparents (who are in their 90s) over Christmas.

So we now have both our boys home together for the first time in over a year and I'm very happy

Aww @Haffdonga, enjoy! 🙂

We booked a table at DD's restaurant this evening. It was lovely to see how confidently she works.

Good point, last time as mother of bride although if there are only 15 guests allowed it might be getting like my parents 1953 post war church wedding with only about 25. Actually I only had about 32 at our church wedding on a week day in 1983. Whittling down to 15 would be hard if it is that. Barely covers the parents and siblings and siblings' children.

Glad everyone is getting their children home. My two have exams at end of this week and start of week after so we cannot really think about Christmas until those are over. I know it is best for Bristol son to have decided to come back here on Monday for the exam time and to them from here but it will not be like a merry coming home from Christmas. He is quite a master of exams in some ways, technique, knowing what questions come up etc and always has been but he says these law exams are the most difficult he has ever done.

I have managed to order my Christmas cards and tree is coming on 16th so things are in hand. I spoke to my older son yesterday who will be here on 25th and probably a few days before as he is off work on 24 - 26th so he will decide if he is staying the night nearer the time. I think he probably will like last year as he is about 90 minutes drive away.

Congratulations to Xenia’s DD. Hopefully the restrictions on weddings will changed next year and she can have the wedding they want. I loved our wedding!
Can’t wait until DT’s get to that stage. although DH and I have been married over 25 years now, neither of the DT’s are bothered by the institution of marriage so I think we are likely to gain unofficial son and daughter-in-laws.

It certainly makes it hard to plan it. Next stop will be the church for her to see what they are doing about bookings. They will not have any problems I am sure other than if weddings are totally banned again as they were for part of 2020. It will be places for wedding receptions where it gets more complicated as a church wedding can go ahead whether 4 people are present or 40.

The engagement ring man is now isolating for covid 19 so the sizing cannot be adjusted for another week but that is not a big problem I am sure in the grand scheme of things.

Bristol son comes home tonight for last minute exam revision and for the forthcoming exams. Apparently as ever he will be back after I am asleep. I don't know why some people in this family are so nocturnal. My older son was saying as he works until midnight he has been going to bed at 5am and must try to get to bed earlier next year. I was saying it must be like being at the North Pole in that case with about 2 hours of daylight only left when he wakes up. I am an early bird.

Congratulations to your DD, Xenia. It sounds like they might need several different contingency plans!

Congrats to the @Xenia DD, my oldest was supposed to be getting married July 2020, obviously postponed until July 2021. Fortunately it’s at our house and all the suppliers ( marquee, hog roast, crepe van, posh mobile loos etc etc have been lovely and just bumped the bookings on)
Really hope it all lightens up a bit before then.

Loshad - similar here. DT’s 21st party was due to be at our house in July this year but the suppliers have all agreed to move the booking to next summer for a belated party. Was worried at one point that the marquee company wouldn’t be able to transfer the booking but all ok now.

DS1's wedding is booked for August 2021.
He and his fiancee have decided they will go ahead even if they can only have 15 guests. They have worked out who the 15 would be. Obviously we're hoping they can have the wedding they've been planning for the last 18 months but they are conscious that my mum is 82 and my MiL 88 so they are wary of postponing.
I hope your DC's wedding can finally go ahead. What a fabulous celebration it will be when it happens!

Hope you've had a good reunion with your boys, Haffdonga, enjoy!

lated good plan. My daughter will do the same - once the date is fixed stick with it come what may unless we go back to a total ban on weddings as earlier in 2020 or only marry if you are dying as during lockdown 2 but I think those latter two are unlikely.

She called to talk about dates last night as the church wants a date put on the form so she went away to discuss it with her finance. We think there will be a massive backlog of people wanting to marry in September but she will need to find out from the church (assuming they are prepared to marry her at all) what is best first so that is stage 1 and then for the reception London has loads of venues so should be fine (or very worst case my garden can fit a marquee but that's not central London and not the plan - we would need to bus people out here).

She does not want as large a wedding like her sister's was (that was about 200). So I think they will instead have about 60 so rationing places at it carefully (if 60 is allowed at all of course....) I hope I make the list. I would be happy with April or June but the church seems to want 6 months for classes etc but I am not sure how strict that is as when I married they were able to speed them up to fit around us.

We are certainly not at home in reunion mode as my son came back for the exams. The first one is tomorrow and then they are every week day from then for 4 days. It is quite nice to hear them chatting about legal concepts all day as it's my thing. They are doing negligence so I could tell them about 8 UK rugby players I heard about yesterfday who are bringing a claim. I heard one on the radio - only 42, 4 children and has dementia (that is what comes of having your head hit - I have always told my children at all costs never hit your own head or someone else's - dangerous).