Thread 40 - Corona Cohort , Falling into Autumn 🍂

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). 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, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

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 will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and support to be had !

Some nice positive stories from the Nottingham crowd!

And I needn't have worried about DD being too frugal. She found a sewing-supply shop and has stocked up with fabric etc for assorted projects... much more important to her than food. No, I don't know where that comes from.

@Oblomov22 DS had only met the cleaner when we left. He said he spoke to a few people at dinner but they were from Beeston and he then went back to his room. He feels lonely 😢 It would be good if your DS could look out for him tomorrow - there doesn't seem to be anyone else in the rooms near him yet.

@Oblomov22 I'm also wondering whether it was you I saw getting a bike shed key when we were collecting the room key 🤔

Mummy I will message you. I'm on my phone now. Which doesn't allow. Neec to be on laptop. And get your ds details. Sorry to sound odd but what were beeston people doing at the Rutland dinner anyway, cheeky monkeys!

Hope the Nottingham crew all moved in OK - I love the place and hope they love it too- one of DD's friends is going to do medicine there and moving in on Saturday - private halls (looks lovely close by)as offered place late

We are off tomorrow to Durham at lunchtime - drop off is Saturday at 10am and I had to book 2 nights in August as nothing much left as we didn't know which day she would be given until late Thursday so at least we don't need to get up at 3am on the day. DH and DD have been in charge of last minute cleaning and packing. I have been impressed ....DH has found it exhausting with all the errand running and last bits of shopping ...

Got home from work at 7pm and half the lounge is now full of stuff and DD has friends over in the kitchen dining room she has cooked for tonight before they all go away this weekend....I got them a little gift of a notebook from Lucy Loves this..... for each of their uni towns ....really lovely

lucylovesthis.com

@Oblomov22 Beeston share the dinner hall apparently. And thank you. I'm not home yet - at my mil's eating cake.

I'm off to bed. I was awake at 4am. Mummy I will message you tomorrow from work laptop. It's good to remember that we are all wierd, but we all find our tribe eventually,

I've just had a text chat with Ds. He's getting on well with his 5 flatmates. Apparently he doesn't like clubbing, so stays in the flat and cleans the kitchen while they are gone. His bedroom here is a tip...so not sure why he's cleaning. He goes out with them during the day.

He's had a talk about the philosophy course, he said the other lads in the room were weird, but the girls were ok. Whatever that means. He's not met anyone on the history course yet. Lectures start next week. I'm glad I've heard something from him.

Dh is sleeping in Ds1's bed already!

I don't want him sleeping in separate bedrooms!

My boss phoned me mid city. He thought ds1 Uni day was tomorrow.
Then Ds1 and I got off on the wrong bus stop and I was so tired I had to get an Uber to get us back to Rutland. how embarrassing.

@Fruitygal that is a lovely website! Have you seen that you can share a discount code for you and your friends - might be worth doing.....

Thank you! Hi, all

@Monkey2001

loox.io/z/41XTBhSZ6

Thanks @Monkey2001 for reminding me - I ordered the notebooks for DD and her friends - they all got them tonight one for each uni!

Lovely to. Use as graduation prints too !

Whew what a weird day, it went well in the end, we had a lot of laughs unloading and doing a quick shop. Tesco was absolutely heaving with students and parents, it was funny. Then DS went off to help his friend move in (friend is on 3rd floor with no lift 😱) and I spent an age on the M42.
We were both a bit teary as I left but he has texted and is having a good time, and I am already in bed.
The block is a bit tatty and Prisoner Cell Block H but the room is nice and big and on a corner so two windows. I think he's going to love it.
Glad to hear everyone has had a successful day and welcome to blink, joining the clan!

Thanks @Oblomov22 that’s really kind of you, sadly my DS would be horrified if I suggested that. He’s actually quite good at speaking to new people and has now met a couple of people on his corridor, he has found two of his school friends over in Cavendish so they have gone into town tonight and I’m sure they will have made some new friends by the end of the evening…

I would have loved to have met you guys today but sadly it wasn’t to be.

@blinkbonny I see Oblomov has listed the Notts crew, @singingstones usually has a list of where everyone is going and what they are doing at the start of these threads which is very helpful although I’m not sure it’s on this one. My DS is studying law and is in L&W.

@blinkbonny welcome !! One of DD’s besties due to move in on Saturday and a massive Nottingham group on here.

DD has been chatting to the flat on socials after getting names yesterday. Knows 2-3 people going to Durham but only 1 is friend from school but not one of her inner circle but both pleased to have a familiar face if they need them.

Some private halls are crazy - one in Nottingham has a spa with saunas etc 🤣

Welcome to the newbies! Hope all the Nottingham drop offs have gone well.

Not long now for us - our slot at Warwick is on Saturday morning. It still doesn't seem real to me yet.

FYI @blinkbonny at Nottingham we have Oblomov DS doing accountancy, Heifer DD doing biology, crazycrofter DD doing psychology,
omnishambles DS doing mech eng, JustHereWithMyPopcorn DS doing law, mummyinbeds DS doing law and French law and my DS doing neuroscience. I think that's right 🤔

@Benjispruce4 how is your DD doing?

@Benjispruce4 after 45 mins on hold, DS finally got through to hsbc and now has the telephone security number and the app is set up and ready. Probably too late to have the first student loan payment put in though, I don’t want to risk messing anything up by changing the account details on student finance now!

@PhotoDad glad to hear about the sewing shop - DD would be the same with cookery shop

Welcome @blinkbonny

And another one wondering about @Benjispruce4 ’s dd. Any improvement??

me and Ds are having a last day tomorrow <sniff>. Planning to make brownies to take up as an ice breaker. As he says, if it all goes pearshaped and his flat is horrid, he’ll have the consolation of eating a lot of delicious brownies to himself [if I say so myself, my brownies are awesome. They are FIL only birthday request every year…

I'm awake again at 4am. What is going on?

Understood Popcorn. Glad ds is out and about with friends. Glad it went ok Singing. Normal I now remember that your brownies are legendary. Wish I could bake like you, but it's not meant to be. I will post ds some shop online order ones. Brownies are his favourite.

I am away with my two closest friends tonight to Dorset for the weekend. I am lying in bed thinking about all of us, and also our dc, re friendship and what a strange thing it actually is. We are all here because we care about our dc and it's such a lovely and supportive thread. But we are all very different. I'm quite wierd as you all know, and I'm very different from my 2 close friends aswell. Strange thing friendship.

Our dc may be meeting 100's of people initially at Uni. Most will be pleasant but won't be lifetime friends, and that's ok. We must remember that, as perspective.

I reminded ds yesterday to not go mad. That the first 2 weeks are wild but it soon calms down.

Thanks for asking. She went to the society fair (alone) but said it was packed and more of a games and prizes event. Haven’t spoken just text so can’t get to the bottom of that. Said she couldn’t get passed to stalls as 10 deep. I think she sounds defeated and has given up. I wish she’d had a better experience. Finding it hard to concentrate on anything else.