Thread 51 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Summer 24 - End of Uni Yr 2

[Oblomov24]

2024 Summer, end of year 2 for those at Uni.

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). 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.

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@Cantonet im so sorry to hear about your DD. I really hope you get to the bottom of it. This sounds frightening. I would be at the gp requesting a brain scan just to delete that as a possibility.
@JustHereWithMyPopcorn - also scary for your DS. God we never had to deal with this crap, I’m so furious that our kids do.

news here if I may - DS2 heard yesterday he got a 1st in his degree! So proud of him. He got 78 in his diss (described as an outstanding level of undergraduate research) and his supervisor says it is fit for publication in an academic journal, so he is going for it! He is travelling at the moment and starts his job in public policy/strategic comms at the beginning of August. V proud of him, he worked incredibly hard the whole way through uni and got a first in each of his 4 years.

Huge well done to your DS @Delphigirl !

Fabulous news Delphi, well done to your young man!

Thank you both so much!! 💕

That's fantastic @Delphigirl ! Got another week until my DS hears.

I'm trying to do my least-favourite task ever at the moment - packing for our holiday. Head off to Majorca tomorrow with the whole family. DS is still in bed. He's given DD a streaming cold so she's not happy - to be fair, her colds last forever (as do mine), so she'll probably feel rotten for most of the week. Just hope things perk up once we're on our way.

Brilliant news @Delphigirl for your ds👍🏼
I think we've worked out that DD suffered a severe panic attack. She's had another severe one two days before & a couple of smaller ones over the previous few days. The severe ones were after parties, so she's been told to stop drinking for the moment. We're not sure whether it's the alcohol interacting with the ADHD drugs or something else. But she has been very stressed by the end of term & completing her projects. In fact she had asked for an extension & was meant to have submitted her extenuating factors by last Friday. But with all this going in she hadn't & UCL phoned here yesterday looking to speak to her.

Her twin brother is in London with her & cooked her a lovely meal the first night & they slept head to toe in her little bed🥲 Yesterday ds went with her to her boyfriends to try & get him to understand what's going on. He was trying to 'fix' her & got very upset & angry that she wasn't listening. He has had a major family tragedy in the past which probably has some bearing on how he behaved. I haven't heard from them today. But we have an appt with the ADHD clinic this Friday as there are meds that she can take that will help her if she starts feeling bad like Phenergan & maybe B Blockers.

Wow @Delphigirl that is a fabulous achievement! Hope you have a celebration lined up.

@Cantonet Your DS sounds lovely. Fingers crossed the appointment helps clarify the issues and puts your DD on a path to less anxiety.

Been AWOL for a while but just catching up on everyone's mixed bags of news.

Can I ask, has anyone else's DC been told they have to mow lawns and cut back bushes before moving out??

Congratulations @Delphigirl

@Delphigirl that's amazing, well done to your DS!

@Cantonet I'm pleased that you have got to the root of what's happening with your DD, what a lovely brother she has. I would definitely agree that staying of the alcohol is sensible for the time being, at least until she finds out if they are interacting badly.

@Piggywaspushed DS is staying put for next year so he hasn't been asked. He has asked for the landlord to provide a lawn mower so that he could cut the grass (which was extremely tall) but never got a response and so took our hedge trimmer up with him and did the best he could with that so they could at least use the garden that they are paying for!

Absolutely if landlords expect tenants to maintain gardens, they should provide tools!

@Cantonet must be a relief to have found the cause of DDs issues. I see phenergan is a possible option - I was given that for my terrible 'morning' sickness when expecting DD. I could only take it at night as it made me so drowsy, which wasn't helpful with an active 2yo to look after! Not sure exactly what purpose your DD would have it for, but just be warned.

I used to give Phenergan to my eldest when she was little before it was banned. I didn't know it could be used off-license for anxiety & to relax people before surgery. But dd2 is already taking the nin-herbal Nytol at night, as it works much better on her than Melatonin. So I'm not sure how effective it would be. I know that Beta blockers work well for ne & DS2 though so they might be the better option.

@Seeline we're also going to Mallorca on Saturday to my sister's house in Pollensa. The weather's picked up there after they had bad flooding a few days ago. I'm looking forward to a relaxing week with no eventful happenings after A levels etc🤞🏼😄

We're near Alcudia! Hope you have a great break. I am really hoping for some sun. Don't cope well with grey days.

Ds sent me a photo as a clue to where he's gone....

Where could he possibly be @icanbewhatiwant 😁

Enjoy your holidays everyone, I'm jealous of those of you heading off to sunnier climes, we're stuck in Blighty again this year. I wouldn't mind but for this awful weather.

Glad you've worked out what's going on @Cantonet and I hope you get to the bottom of whether it's meds interacting that's causing it.

Well done to your ds2 @Delphigirl , that's fantastic! Hope he enjoys the new job too.

Dd is back later, here for two days of warehouse shifts and then she's off on holiday on Sunday with some school friends. With ds also going on holiday on Monday, I'm looking forward to a quiet few days! Hope you all enjoy your lovely sunny holidays abroad, I'm a bit envious of the weather!

@Delphigirl forgot to say yesterday that's fantastic news about your DS, well done to him.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn we have no plans to go abroad at the moment either, we have a week in Scotland booked plus I have a couple more weekends away in the UK, we have been holding back on booking anything else in case the DCs get jobs (neither is ready to go away with friends yet so its us or not go at all) but we may do something after A level results as DD is back at college in Sept so no worries about uni, clearing etc.

Well, I am impressed by DS's attitude to not having a job, I had some volunteering work to do last night in his sort of line and I asked him if he wanted to come, so he did and his confidence has clearly grown a lot since he last came with me 2 or 3 years ago. He said he wants to get out and do active stuff every day as he doesn't feel good just sitting at home and is making himself to do lists every night. DD's last A level should be finished by now so that's a relief too. We are all off to the pub tonight.

He sounds very mature in his attitude @EasilyDefined , I hope he’s rewarded with a paying job soon 🤞

We've booked a place near York for our summer hols as dh won't fly. I'm thinking of trying a boat or train to get abroad next year.

Gosh! so many things happening on this thread if feels I've been away for ages rather than a few days.

@ealingwestmum Agreed! My parents used to warn us girls specifically but now as a mum of boys, I'm always telling them to be careful because nasty people are so much more predatory now.

@Oblomov24 Wishing your DS a lovely holiday. DS is also going off on a surfing camp holiday this weekend. It sounds really exciting and I'm glad he's taking the opportunity and socialising & widening his circle as well as learning a new skill.

@mummyinbeds So much to figure out. If he needs a yr out i hope he gets it for his MH. My only concern would be 2yrs out mid his degree, would that have any impact on his studies long term? do you know when results will be out? this is the type of stress that brings on my fibro pain badly. I hope you're managing to keep focussed and hopefully all the answers you need will materialise sooner rather than later.

@EwwSprouts Sorry about the summer internship, it's really is tough out there and so many chasing after so few opportunities.

@Cantonet What a lovely boy you've got! the sleeping head to ties made me smile as i do this when DH snores .

@icanbewhatiwant Thats a lovely photo. At least your ds sent something. DS tends to send the sort of photo that you requires you to have 'discerning' abilities to interpret e.g a photo of the sea, literally, no surrounding land OR a photo of the sky.....

Currently, we are having bathrooms redone at home. Complete new installations. It's been so stressful sourcing things as everything we like seems to be, 'Out of Stock', but can't wait for it all to be finished, it'll be worth all the stress.

I forgot to congratulate @Delphigirl . What an AMAZING achievement! not just for the 1st class but to have something published as an undergrad.. that boy is going places. That's the sort of thing Phd students dream of.

@Shimy yes I thought I'd get a photo of something that I wouldn't know what or where.

Schools out 😂
It is wrong/too early to have a celebratory gin & tonic?