Thread 45 GCSE Covid Cohort - Bunnies bouncing into Spring

[OrangeCinnamonLatte]

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

@crazycrofter that's a good shout re washing on holiday. I hadn't thought of packing his dirty clothes and there is a washing machine in the house we're renting. It'll give DS something to do if he can't walk 🤣

Oh no @mummyinbeds I hope e's not too badly hurt and praying for minimal mud at Rutland!

Good luck to you both in getting the washing done and dried before tomorrow!!!

@crazycrofter that would be me!
@mummyinbeds definitely get him to do his washing

DS back on Monday, got to get DH to clear his work stuff out well before then.

@crazycrofter Loving the Dummies book choice. They are a good brand.

@mummyinbeds Oh dear he'll be unhappy. Hope it heals quickly.

There are signs DS is home, the hall is once more an obstacle course of sports bags and stinky trainers.

@mummyinbeds don't forget to add getting fined for parking or going down the tram road to your list of things to make the day even worse;-) Hope your DS is ok and actually gets out of A&E in time to help you pack and get home. Hope you have fun on your holiday.

DH is collecting DD in the morning as she is playing hockey tomorrow (last league match of the season). I'm hoping she will make a start with the packing tonight.. Will txt to remind her, although all the empty bags/boxes are here...

She is actually working for the first 2 weeks (swimming coaching) It's only it's only 3 hrs per day (spread from 9.30am - 3.00pm) so still plenty of time to revise and catch up on missed lectures etc, especially as she is home for 4 weeks.

Hope you all have a good Easter, whatever you're doing and hope you all get to see your DD/DS at some point (even if it's just to collect their Easter Eggs). reminds me I need to buy some, had to get off Amazon next day delivery last year....

@heifer you don’t get fined for going down the tram road do you?!! Because I did that on Tuesday 😱 I’ve already had a speeding fine on one visit and a fine for driving in a bus lane on another. Definitely not a fan of driving in Nottingham!

@mummyinbeds
How did we miss eachother yet again?

Horrendous journey for me today.
I left here at 1.45. Took over 4 hours to get there as the weather was awful and M25 and M1 stationary, or 40 mph most of the way. Arrived 6pm. Ds1 hadn't packed. We went to dinner in Rutland. I loved it. Just the fact I was served food, without cooking it myself. The table of 16 was full, lovely lovely friends all going to Christian camp in wales. Spoke to newly diagnosed diabetic boy. Packed car. 2.5 hours home.

Me neither crazy and Heifer. I've got more points going to Notts than ever before!

And yes the Rutland mud was very bad. I parked on the concrete parking bays. Never again, after getting mud stuck last time.

Nowhere near as serious but my dd had to be rescued from school toilets several times (one time they had to get a senior boy to climb over the door to get her out. School ended up banning her from going to the toilet alone and always sent a friend with her. (She was eventually diagnosed with adenemyosis)

went up to see Ds who was musically directing a showing of work for the musical theatre students. It was amazing. I can’t believe a student wrote it. Bought ds’s friend back home but Ds himself got on a train to London ready to start NYMT tomorrow.

we will see him in a weeks time.

DD boyfriend did the other week (I think £125) a day after getting a £75 parking fine at the uni, and today apparently got another £75 fine on the tram for not having a ticket - despite him having proof that he had tried 8 times to buy a tram ticket at the tram stop before he got on but the ticket bloke wasn't haven't it, said he shouldn't have boarded the tram without a ticket. BF is not a happy bunny. Fingers cross you got away with it :-)

@Oblomov23 I think we must have arrived at about the same time! There was a car stuck in the mud when I got there and I wondered whether it was you 🤣 DS hadn't packed but was at least back from the hospital. Just a sprain but he couldn't possibly carry anything down the stairs 😡 I've only just walked in the door, just gone midnight. It took over an hour to do the last mile on the M1.

@heifer I've still managed to avoid speeding fines, tram line fines and bus lane fines in Nottingham. I'm not sure how - last time I went I managed to get stuck in a one way street where the only way out seemed to be down tram tracks or through a no entry. I took the no entry and hoped for the best. Those trams scare me.

Nice to hear everyone safely back for Easter. @mummyinbeds - sprain sounds similar to my DS and his basketball injury! Fully better now thankfully.

DS has online interview for a summer school assistant at a boarding school near Cambridge on Monday, it would be six weeks residential at beginning of July. Don’t like the thought of him being away in holidays as well but better get used to it I suppose… it pays well and he would then be home for six weeks before uni restart in October. He’s applied for one nearer home as well at York but don’t think that’s residential. Fingers crossed he gets something.

We’re on our way to get DD now. She has permission to bring ALL her washing home - she did offer to do half at uni, but it feels perverse to make her so that when she can do it more easily and ‘free’ at home. I’ve just asked that she doesn’t leave it to the last minute and hog the washer and dryer for two days straight like she did at Xmas 🙄

Ds had to do his washing to take to NYMT. He also had a friend staying the past few days to take part in the performance so he washed his bedding for him.

We picked up DS and his GF yesterday.

Had some big conversations yesterday as it emerges he has not caught up as hoped and is further behind. He fell further into the hole despite it looking promising when I went down for the emergency visit a few weeks ago. He says he wants to do it and catch up but admits a lot of that (wanting to do it rather than lack of work) is due to his GF being there. He doesn’t love it but says there is potential for him to, he has enjoyed bits when he was up to date. He has clearly really struggled with getting used to uni life and the different way of studying.

We went through in detail each module and where he is behind and estimated how many hours it will take to catch up on each subject. It is doable over Easter but will mean doing 40-45 hours of study each week. (He only has two weeks off). It is possible but will take a lot of effort and resolve from him. We have planned out a timetable for this week but will see how it goes.

Strange really as I didn’t think he’d struggle but it clearly has not been a good start so far 😕.

So many of you have your dc's home. Ds doesn't want to come home. I think he will at some point over Easter. He said he will just turn up and surprise me. But he can't get back from the train station very easily, so he will need picking up, unless he gets a mate who can drive to collect him. That's a possibility. I'll have to wait and see.

@icanbewhatiwant DS1 does not not come home between January and May, so you are not really the only one. It is sad for parents, but great that they are happily independent.

Rest assured, when Ds comes home it’s not for us, it’s for gigs or mates. He often stays with friends.

@Monkey2001 yes...I'm glad he's happy. The rest of his flat mates are going home this week. So when he's the last one he may return. He's been saying the girls are now spending most of their time in their rooms. He's house sharing with them from august. So hopes they become a bit more sociable. I think they were early on in the year. Perhaps they have lots of work.

As mentioned, DD is staying at uni for a week to use the facilities (she pretty much lives in the Print Room, full of clunky Victorian presses) and hang out with friends. My plan this weekend was; (1) laundry, (2) cleaning/tidying, (3) uni work for my course, (4) marking catch-up for school.

My actual weekend; (1) laundry - on the line, now the weather's turned!, (2) watch "Peaky Blinders" S1 and S2, (3) cook roast dinner.

The other things will get done next week. Right?

@PhotoDad way back in the distant past, the school I attended was given a victorian printing press in a terrible state (northern industrial town - think it came out of one of the cotton mills!). We got to take it apart, refurbish it and rebuild it. So did a lot of printing in art from then on!

@handmademitlove Fantastic! DD sent me a video taken by one of her classmates, of her cranking the wheel of a Victorian press, accompanied by lots of cheers; she is very petite!

Sounds as though you could do with joining us over on the Flylady threads @PhotoDad (a system for organising and maintaining your household, which includes Anti-Procrastination Day ). Well done on the laundry ✅.

Well, we have had a nice weekend, I picked DS up on Friday morning, then we have been on an overnight visit to DFIL and caught up with all the DBILs/DSILs. DS has offered to do the weekly food shop while I’m at work tomorrow. DD has offered to come along and help him carry it home. We’ll see……