Thread 42 Corona GCSE Cohort - 👻Creeping it Real for Oct22

[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 advice to be had.

previous thread

Mummyinbeds you have had a very tough time. Please also look after yourself as you are no good to your young people if you are burnt out.

You may have a point about thyroid @Volterra I don't know why I hadn't considered it. DD has an under active thyroid and has been on thyroxin for about 5 years. My mum, late grandma and uncle too. I'll tell him to mention it to the doctor next week. I won't mention blood tests or he won't go .

I took ds to the doctor yesterday as he's also been exhausted since September, as well as having stomach problems. He had a virus - probably covid - quite badly at the start of term and hasn't been right since. He comes home and has a 2-3 hour nap and then still has his 7-8 hours at night. The doctor's arranged for him to have some blood tests.

Definitely worth checking then @mummyinbeds . I think it’s one of those things that you are surrounded by and just get used to as it gets to be normal once people are well controlled. Sensible not to mention blood tests at this point.

Sorry @crazycrofter , that’s good that GP is doing bloods .

Hope you have a lovely few days together Also

Cariad DS was just the same when he came home (the socialising, not the work) - I anticipated it by picking him up, so at least had a few hours of him trapped in the car with me! Once he was home we barely saw him. I was quite upset after he left again, different from the beginning of term as there was none of the excitement, just a dull realisation that he really doesn't live here in quite the same way any more.

Sympathies to you mummy, what a time you've had - it's good though that he has already faced some problems and has figured out how to solve them with your help, that bodes well. Hopefully medication will improve things too.

Hope everyone who is not 100% feels better soon - how was phlebotomist Zitti and how are you now Heifer?

@mummyinbeds sorry to hear your DS is having such a tough time. You must be exhausted yourself

Thanks for your kind words @singingstones and @crazycrofter . I think you’re absolutely spot on when you talk about the difference between now and the beginning of term. I dropped her off at her friend’s house at midday and we had an argument in the car about her lack of work. It all went horribly and is so upsetting as we have always been so close and got on so well. I cried! I’m so aware that this week at home will fly by and I don’t want her to go back feeling negatively about us and home. I also don’t want her to be at RH in a huge panic at the end of the month when she has to hand in the 4 essays. Eugh!

@cariadambyth dd also has several (I don’t know how many) essays due this month and hasn’t really started working (at all) yet. But she knows she has to get on with it and I’m not mentioning work anymore. That’s up to her! I will mention spending though… as that affects us… and also caused an argument last week 😬

DS had already done several pieces for his abandoned PPE course of course but has two source analyses for his new history course due tomorrow. They are only 750 words so not too onerous. He sent me one about Islam in medieval times. Apparently this is quite interesting...

Sorry to hear that mummy. Please take care. You have too much going on.
I think I would have a word with dd. In a soft way. Tell her you have enough on your plate with ds.

Wow, I am looking at the complications some of you are facing and feeling very glad that DS is on a gap year!

Special handhold to @mummyinbeds , must be so hard holding it together for everyone.

Has he settled into history ok and enjoying it, Piggy?

We are seeing DS this weekend as we have a family event nearby - going to show Y12 DD around the Nottingham campus on Saturday afternoon as she has never seen a university before. And so it begins again 😱

Yes, seems to be a weight off his mind.

@Volterra Ds1 is at Bath & my gut feeling is that Bath is a bit less daunting than Bristol (he had an offer from Bristol too). I think coming home at weekends is a good plan regardless of where your Ds goes next year. Weekends are often very quiet anyway with not much going on unless you are playing sports.

Choosing a bigger flat could also be an option - you’re probably more likely to encounter a like minded person in a bigger group.

If your Ds decides on a change in direction maybe an engineering degree? Lots of Maths, both theoretical & practical applications.

@mummyinbeds Sorry to hear about your Ds’ struggles. I hope you can get to the bottom of it soon.

And sorry to hear about your cat @Zebracat Our moggys are getting old, probably the longest lasting pets I’ve had. It will be a wrench when they go.

I'm so sorry all...I'm trying to hand over five years' worth of knowledge and nineteen years' of institutional and I'm manic.

@mummyinbeds I do hope your DS ok , you are having a real time of it.
Nice to have an update on Casper @Zebracat sorry to hear about Kitty
@cariadambyth I'm dreading Dd coming home next week. It sounds awful but I know we will argue. She is still so obsessed with her boyfriend. They've only spent one weekend apart so far which is ridiculous.
Sorry to hear about your DS not being quite right too @crazycrofter
What has covid done to us all?

@volterra I hope you are able to help DS find his pathway when recovered it sounds like he has lots of support, hopefully when recovered a bit he can see wood for trees regarding Subject.

I found some time first thing this morning to make a new thread...then promptly forgot about it until 11 hours later

Shiny fireworky sparkly sparklers 💫 new thread

Oh, @mummyinbeds, fingers crossed for tests.

DD has found out dates for end of term (didn't know whether she needed to stay for Exams Week, given that her modules are all coursework - turns out that she doesn't!) so is planning to book a train home for Christmas. This would be a first for her (she's always travelled with someone) and would be a major step in her fight against anxiety, so fingers crossed.

She was delighted that this week's Class Trip Out To Draw Stuff (I'm sure that it has a more official name) was to the Botanic Gardens, one of her favourite spots in Cambridge. It's an amazing place; in her own words, it's like a National Trust garden in the city centre.

@PhotoDad what a lovely picture. I used to go to the Botanical gardens for lunch when I worked in Cambridge many years ago.

Just been musing on everything the DC have achieved and been through over the last few months as I was posting the list on the new thread, such a lot has happened -

Zebra's epic funding win, chenin DD and stupid Falmouth, the Oxbridge/medicine/vet med journeys, the DDs already working, those regrouping for 2023, the DC who needed a lot of help with it all 🙋‍♀️ and those who were the complete opposite, icanbe and maybe fiddler?, fights for DSA and other support, summers full of festivals, IKEA trips and mattress toppers, house moves, covid bouts, new jobs, the gradual agglomeration of the Nottingham crew, the many biologists and musicians, and the one offs (on this thread - Korean, illustration, interior design), the DC solo holidays abroad and the gap years under way. Phew - I'm sure there's a lot more that I've forgotten. Results day seems so long ago, and I can hardly remember this time last year when DS was putting in his application.

All my good wishes for mummyinbeds and crazycrofter DC tests.

Dd's appointment this morning involved her fifth blood test. And the lab rejected it for some reason, so we have to go in for a SIXTH lot on Friday morning. Just as well I work from home eh? At this rate we might have a diagnosis by 2023...

What a long winded process @ZittiEBuoni . I hope you're able to get some answers soon

Just popped on to say DD has had two offers so far for next year, first Reading on Saturday and then today, York!! She’s delighted and shocked.

How fabulous @Benjispruce4! Is her heart still set on York? Or is she still considering her options?