Congratulations!
I am so glad it is over. I miss some things about small children and teenagers, but a lot was difficult. DH suggested we would have been much better parents if we had known what we were doing.
It's a big Christmas for us, possibly the last one with everyone there. DS has about 18 months to go on his PhD but could then be anywhere in the world. Academia is fiercely competitive so though he starts applying for jobs next year (he reckons he will make about 100 applications) he might well have to do two or three more years of "post-doc" before landing something. DD is having a relaxed final year as they sat their final exams last summer. Just as well with two foundation years coming up. She spent her two months elective working as a research assistant. It turned out to be brilliant, exactly the area of medicine she is interested in, and she should get her name on a paper. They have said that if she wants to take an academic PhD she should let them know. In sixth form she was undecided between medical engineering and medicine, and so it continues.
She has more or less decided to head for somewhere relatively rural for her F1/F2. Feedback from friends who made it to London teaching hospitals is that things are chaotic (presumably exacerbated by Covid) and that there is little time for teaching. The allocation system is also pretty randomised, and I think it helps that she can be certain she will get what she wants. She is likely to want to return to London eventually so thinks the next two years will be a chance to do something different. She has also found a cheap sublet in Bristol. The idea had been to save money by living in free placement accommodation, but her friends are scattered all over and it was pretty grim spending weekends alone. Other friends are picking the same safe choice F1/F2 so they should all end up together, avoiding the risk of spending two years working hard shifts without a nearby support group.
One of my tenants, just slightly older than DC, comes from Russia though now has British citizenship and was quite gloomy about again not being able to go home for Christmas, so I issued a random invitation for her to join us. I assured her that there was no commitment and that if she got a better offer she could stand us down, so was surprised at how pleased she seemed to be. DDs reaction was "Didn't you warn her that we are all mad". Its good though, as it is a reason to really make an effort. We are also lending my mum's flat to my Ukrainian tenants, their parents having fled first Crimea, and then Kyiv, with just a suitcase, having to start yet again aged 60. The mother now has a job and he is well on his way, from nothing, to reaching the standard required that will allow him to work for the NHS. They previously held very senior positions which they won't be able to achieve here, but it is a start. Even with the people I know about there are a lot of people living in their small terrace house, made worse by wfh, so again they seem to like the idea of a break. Our kids, having made it through Covid, are entering adulthood in such an uncertain world.
I hope everyone has a great Christmas, whether on 25th or not.