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

DS thinks he had his drink spiked one night out in Bristol. He couldn't remember the end of the night or getting home. And he felt really poorly the next day.
He is pretty sensible with alcohol and never gets into that much of a state, so I think he is probably right. He didn't tell me until ages after, otherwise I would have made him go and be checked out by a doctor.

It is something that worries me with DD as she is far less streetwise, and is tiny, so I assume would be affected to a greater extent than a larger person.

So sorry to read about the spiking incidents again, it really is worrying.

Did my first upholstery class this morning, my back is aching and my knuckles are skinned from trying to remove approx. 5 million staples from my chair.

Dd passed her driving test! Quite remarkable really 😂 as she drove into the driving centre with me, she reversed into a space too fast and hit the wall 🤣 Seems like she got all her major faults out the way in the last three days driving with us!

@crazycrofter well done to your dd.

It sounds like the spiking incident scared Ds. Not much bothers him usually. Ds just kept the girls calm on the phone until help arrived. One of the girls had a panic attack which the paramedic were concerned over than the lad who seemed the most spiked, none of them were taken to hospital in the end. They got the lad back to campus where Ds helped him to his room and bed. He can't remember any of it, perhaps that's not a bad thing. Ds was up all night that night. So slept all day. Then couldn't sleep all last night, so he was very tired this morn. he said it was stopping him getting on with uni work. So I hope he managed to stay awake today.

So sorry to hear about the spiking incidents. One of DD’s new friends was spiked at the end of their first week of uni. They took her to A&E but they didn’t do much

Congrats to young Crazy

@crazycrofter Nothing like doing it with style! congratulations to minicrofter.

The spiking is very concerning. Hope those responsible are caught sooner rather than later.

Congrats mini @crazycrofter

What a helpful lad he is @icanbewhatiwant I hope he gets some rest.

Just converted some Tesco vouchers to SpaSeekers (3 x value) for Dd birthday. Going to a spa in Brighton.

Well done to your DD Crazy!

I hope he gets back to normal life soon ican. He’s been a star, and is probably quite traumatised as to what could have been. Very natural too.

Thanks to all for the suggestions for bags - I have given them to other DD's (17 and 13) who have more idea of what style she wants.
@Monkey2001 we are still waiting for Sheffield, Newcastle, HYMS and Bristol - all she needs is one!
She was so much better this year in interviews so more hope.

@coffeeandbiscuittime fingers crossed. I think Sheffield will start tonight,and if she has not got a waiting list email yet, it looks promising!

@crazycrofter well done that girl! 🚗

Well done to mini @crazycrofter! I bet you were all pleasantly surprised after the last few days!!

A friends DD was spiked in our local town and another one a little further away. It seems to be everywhere sadly. DS did wonder if he had been spiked a while ago as he seemed far too drunk for the amount he had drunk but who knows.

Ds text this morn to say he'd witnessed someone having a drug induced seizure last night. They were taken off in an ambulance. So something else not particularly nice he's seen. I asked if the person was ok but he's not replying to messages. He told me a while ago he's turned all notifications off. So getting hood of him isn't easy. Dh is going to stay with his dd Sunday for a few days, so will meet up with Ds too.

These bags from Typo are really solid if you have a bag refuser. Strong enough to hold multiple books and a laptop. I think they come in bigger sizes too. DD has about 3, and they've been used longer that any other, one of them is still going from high school.
cottonon.com/UK/art-tote-bag/1684454-30.html?dwvar_1684454-30_color=1684454-30&cgid=tote-bags&originalPid=1684454-30#start=22&sz=60

Poor ds @icanbewhatiwant , what a lot to deal with. Hope he’s ok. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see his dad.

Dd has decided to go down the ADHD diagnosis route. I keep telling her that a diagnosis won’t solve anything (not that it isn’t worth getting one) but that she needs to find solutions that will work for her. Her main issues seem to be not being able to sleep and organisation/not getting stuff done. She doesn’t like my ‘advice’ though 😬 I offered to help her get some studying done this week but all she could focus on was driving. I guess at least it wasn’t a wasted week!

Oh blimey @icanbewhatiwant, your DS has had to deal with more than his fair share of incidents. Poor lad.

@crazycrofter DS has similar issues and thinks ADHD is at play. We have talked about him looking at getting a diagnosis but it’s up to him. Personally I suspect he hasn’t got it but all these things are a scale and he does have some of the issues so who knows. My viewpoint is similar to yours though. Good luck to your DD in her next steps.

@icanbewhatiwant what a week he is having! Hope that the streak of un-nerving events is over, Brighton has always had an edgy reputation, but it is all everywhere now.

Congrats to your DD @crazycrofter , that did make me chuckle when you mentioned the wall :-) She did very well to hold it together and pass after that.

Bit worried about my DD tbh, she doesn't seem to be eating properly (despite being catered), is always tired and isn't loving it at uni (doesn't hate it either but I thought she would really enjoy herself). She is coming back home more often than I thought she would, says missing boyfriend, friends and even us, and that it's boring at Uni sometimes. She hasn't really engaged with what's on offer, only what's in front of her face. She does struggle to cope with too much going on, likes to concentrate on 1 thing at a time (can't plan ahead for toffee)...

On the plus side, she is coping, has made some good friends and seems to be managing workload (despite missing lectures as she likes to do some of them online), scored really well in her Jan Exam and has just moved up a team to the local hockey club. So on paper it's ok, but I just have this feeling it could be so much better if she could just organise herself more (eat & sleep better, not see boyfriend so often (can only got about 10 days) and just engage with a few more activities, seek them out rather than waiting for things to just happen).

I've just booked a week away to Cornwall in the summer. My friend has a small 1 bedroom studio on her small holding and DD asked if she could come with her bf so will be good fun. They are going to camp next to us. We have a rib boat, body boards and will buy some paddle boards so just need some decent weather now. I'm really looking forward to it - despite the very long drive..

Sorry to hear about the spiking, I had hoped that had died down as not heard anything recently. Sounds like you're DS handled himself brilliantly @icanbewhatiwant hope he is ok after the 2nd incident.

@OrangeCinnamonLatte that sounds like fun, great idea, hope you all enjoy it.

It's great to see some old names on here with your news. It's hard to keep up but it's very interesting reading.

Totally agree about needing new hobbies. I really do need to get myself sorted out. I have made some progress on the housework/sorting front. But still not drinking enough water, exercising enough or dieting. I have done lots of excel spreadsheet work that needed doing (I enjoy that) for both hockey club and our own business so made great progress there.

I'm finding it hard to socialise. My best friends are miles away and although I've made friends here, everyone seems either really busy working/looking after aging parents or are also going through peri/menopause and don't want to be social. Also everyone here seems to have lived her forever and have friends from when there were 3. It's hard to break into that.

Im interested, to give me some idea, do you all have your own hobbies? if so what? if not are you happy not?

No hobbies here either really @heifer, but as my dh is a minister, I pretty much have two jobs so no time for anything else! Maybe one day...

Sorry your dd isn't loving uni like you thought she would. It's a massive adjustment though and lots to get used to/manage all at once. I wonder if it gets better once they're in their own house in year 2? Dd is the most sociable person ever but she did comment that it can be a lot being in halls, as you really can't get time on your own. She's got some friends at uni who are introverts and they've told her that they struggle at times and need to withdraw a bit. Maybe it's a good thing that dd has the bf to come home to for a break?

My latest hobby is plumbing - having had some bad experiences with plumbers who have done jobs poorly, I have taken to fixing everything myself. I am planning replacing a bath with a shower and have been watching endless YouTube videos from passionate and excellent tradesmen. I love the feeling you get when you have successfully completed a DIY project.

Also looking into laying a laminate floor with electric underfloor heating - the info available on YouTube is AMAZING!

Thanks @crazycrofter DD does spend a lot of time by herself in her room, so does she gets her downtime (she has always needed that) but does like to socialise too so is going out. She seems to be napping quite in bit in her free time. Her bf visits every other weekend too. I guess I can't really put my finger on it, she is doing well, but I think she could be loving it with a little more effort. She has said that people don't really hang out in the common room, or go to the bars/pubs (she did go the other day so maybe that's starting) but only really go clubbing and she doesn't want to do that all the time (once a week I think is her preference) so I do agree in Yr2 when they are closer to pubs and can go to each others houses etc it will be better for her.

I didn't realise it was reading week at Nottingham this week. Her bfs and friends is next week so DD is going to visit her school friends in Manchester next week (missing 2 lectures) Mon night - Wed, then meeting up with bf here and going back together to Nottingham Wednesday afternoon in time to make hockey training apparently. It's nice that she is doing that as her friends have been asking for ages for her to visit. She finds that hard though tbh - getting the train etc for the first time so I'm pleased she has bought the tickets herself and is cracking on. Like I said, she is doing well really and making progress but I wanted her to love it and be having the time of her life.

That is impressive @Monkey2001 . I don't fancy laying a floor though tbh - my knees and joints would hurt too much.. But the plumbing sounds fun.

Hobbies - I have an allotment which is surprisingly sociable, and crochet for the Woolly Hugs charity which started on MN and has a very friendly chatty online community. I also go to classes at the local sports centre. We go to a pub quiz every week with friends and I am in a book club.