Study in the time of COVID-19 (2019/20 intake): lockdown restrictions, relaxation of rules and repeat... And will the Grinch government cancel Christmas?

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Carrying on from our previous thread.

I believe these threads have probably been running since the summer/autumn of when our DC were about to start/in Year 13 (so 2018)?

Having just spoken to DS he seems unaware of the council tax issue, and I would be surprised if his friend knew either. It still seems such a long way off but they will have to start thinking seriously about it after Christmas. Although he is meant to be doing a 4 year degree no one has spoken to them about placements. They probably assume that the students are sorting it out already.

My DD is also refusing to come back until next weekend. It will be a long day for DH as she insists on staying until after her last class and she does not finish until 5pm.

DD's home now, and pleased to be back. But she's a bit put out to find Durham have lumped maths (which is mostly online) in with science (who have to be back for practicals) and told them they should be back earlier than the start of term. All the cheap train tickets have gone for that date so she won't be back that early.
She seems to have had a good term, and so I'm pleased she went back because it was very touch and go whether she would refuse.

On council tax my son and his flat mate who got their degrees in June were charged council tax from July to when their post grad courses started even though they were mostly not in the flat until term started and only last week my son was still dealing with correspondence about it. He had to extract a letter from his institution - in the end he sent a special delivery letter to them to get it as all calls and emails were ignored and they emailed the letter on the day the special delivery letter by post had been received which sometimes shows using the post can be faster than email. As his council has an almost impossible to use online log in system he has also sent it his letter by special delivery post too.

Collected my DS from Nottingham yesterday. It has been a long 13 weeks since I last saw him. His Christmas gift to me? A bin bag full of smelly washing. But I still hugged him till his ribs ached.

Mine glad your DS is home, despite the washing . Our DS came home on Thursday and forgot to bring his washing ... which I am rather pleased about although hate to think what state it will be in when he returns .... I also asked him if he'd cleared out the fridge, he 'thought he had'.

I have washed all of DS's clothes. He wouldn't have had much to wear if he had left his washing behind. He has grown, though, so still needs more clothes. He is still built like a whippet, but a bigger one. DD didn't bring any washing last Christmas, and they have a washing machine in the flat. Her wardrobe here is completely full so she would be fine.

@xenia useful information re council tax, thanks.

@simbobs, your DD sounds like mine re clothes

So nice to have DS home - he’s holed up in his room banging an essay out!

So nice to have DS home - he’s holed up in his room banging an essay out!

This is why DD chose to stay at university until term finishes properly. She finds it easier to work there than she does at home.

@Ginfordinner, his housemates were all leaving and the deadline is Friday, so horrid to be there on his own for a week. Plus his gf is here and he hasn’t seen her for a couple of months

It's a no brainer then. DD's friends are all still in Newcastle. Most live in tier 3 so it's nicer to be in a house with friends.

DS took a couple of days to get into the ‘working from home’ mode but now seems to be back in the groove - good job, as he has an exam on Thursday!

DD and her friends did Christmas dinner today. They are now singing Christmas carols.

DS3 stayed home for this lockdown and has exams all this week- older DS1 and 2 are also back now so the internet is taking a bit of a bashing as DH also wfh. Think I’ll take the dogs fir a walk😂😂😂😂😂

Any ideas for christmas presents? I think we’re paying DS too much as he doesn’t say he needs money, doesn’t want a coffee machine (although he uses ours like its going out of fashion). We’re thinking just money for clothes as he’ll avoid buying any otherwise but no clue really. Its difficult to just give money when we’re already giving money for living expenses..

I bought DD the Sorted Gift Membership

She loves cooking, and watches a lot of their videos. she has a lot of "stuff", so even most of her stocking fillers are food related.

Agree with you @MrKlaw. Boys are more difficult to buy for at the best of time, I always feel. What about a FitBit for your DS. That's what we've got DS.

I'm really struggling this year, particularly for DD. I think I have bought DS more bits and pieces, and to compound things DD has a birthday between now and Christmas as well, for which we have come up with zilch. She is quite hard to buy for, having really specific likes and dislikes, but as these evolve when she is away I never know where she is with anything.

I thought your gift idea good, @ginfordinner I may look into that as a gift for DS later in the year. DD vegan and would hate it, sadly.
I just think it harder to buy for them as they get older.

simbobs DD is vegetarian and does veganuary every year. Sorted do a lot of vegan dishes. Have a look at Bosh instead perhaps? Their recipes are just brilliant.

For gifts I've got all my teens one of these notebooks
wtfnotebooks.com

DD is getting a microphone (she sings a lot, and right now that's online), some university logoed clothes (big thing in the US), a Kindle, clothes store gift card, some sneaker balls (apparently they help with smell - mostly they're cute), a games gift card, and a planner that she particularly loves which we get her every year. Some other stuff too - I'm not sure what as DH has sorted most of it.

@ginfordinner I'm sure the recipes are great but she likes to be in control of her diet, and would not be impressed at being told what to eat. At least, that was the case 3 months ago. She is just about OK with me cooking for her as she knows my vegan repertoire is quite limited. Also they tend to assume vegans like particular things which she usually doesn't.

I found the Bosh recipes a real eye opener. They take vegan food to a completely new level. They show a lot of videos on Facebook and had a TV series at the beginning of this year. I admit to being partisan because the Bosh boys are fairly local to us

DD doesn't like to to told what to eat either, but she is creative and likes reading recipes for inspiration.

I'll take a look at what's on offer. I tend to avoid any kind of subscription that involves parcels usually, as she is never in when they arrive and has to go quite a distance to pick them up. This year I wasn't so concerned because she was mostly in anyway.

We've stuck to cash as a gift for many years now ... just so hard to get the 'right' thing, DS wants some golf shoes but he will need to order them to make sure they are the right brand/fit. I add a few extras - but don't go overboard, he's much more interested in watching his Bank Account grow

@Ragwort that sounds about right (watching the bank account grow!). DS dabbles in shares so seems to make a bit of money that way too. I think he has this plan to do that full time at some point in the not too distant future!

Wanted to share some good news and encourage others still searching that ds1 here, has secured a very good placement for next year. It’s nothing short of a miracle.
Even in this dire climate it can still happen and opportunities are there, so pls encourage all the young people to continue intensifying their efforts.