Thread 53 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Happy New Year 2025 to our fab young people

[Delphigirl]

New thread! Looking forward to traversing 2025 with this fantastic group 🎉😘

Fantastic news @Piggywaspushed. Well done to your DS.

I've just been catching up on news. I never remember to keep up these days.

Last time I posted I said ds2 had quit his year abroad and was coming home. Since then, he has decided to stay after all. He wanted to quit in November when they broke up for the Australian summer break. As we were all meeting in Japan after Christmas and he'd booked flights there from Australia, I told him he had to stay there until after Japan. All his flatmates left as they had finished their courses. Most people also went home, so he had a lonely Christmas. Then on 28th we all went to Japan, he said he'd book a flight home once he'd packed back in Australia. But when he got back he'd got a new flatmate, he insisted the flat be cleaned, I said on here way back that Ds was struggling with how dirty his flatmates were, they were getting fined weekly. Anyway...with the old housemates gone, a clean flat and a new flat mate that Ds gets on with, he decided to stay. He's got himself another girlfriend, the break up with the first one was the cause of him wanting to come home, I've suggested not falling madly in love as he's coming home in June. He said they both know not to take it too seriously as she's graduating and moving on and he's returning to the uk. He's also got himself a part time job in McDonald's. It only guarantees one shift a week, he's hoping for more.
Uni should have re started this week, he's been off since November.
So, I'm glad he's stayed. All his friends back home are graduating this summer, so it'll be strange for him to do another year in Sussex.

@Piggywaspushed Fantastic news! Delighted he's got into the career he's longed for.

@icanbewhatiwant Good to hear he's found his way back on track. Japan was a canny move on your part!

@Delphigirl Enjoy!

@Piggywaspushed Well done PiggyJnr and congratulations! so pleased for him, he's got a good foot on the career ladder i'd say.

Sports.

Brilliant @Piggywaspushed ! Will he need to move from Birmingham?

Good news @icanbewhatiwant - I think he’d have regretted it if he’d quit.

I had a call from Ds’ supermarket manager today, trying to track him down as they thought he was returning in March! Ds was very vague about what he’d agreed back in December- I suspect because they have an old email address on file for him and had sent the details there. Anyway, sounds like he’ll have to quit as they don’t allow lifestyle breaks of more than two months and he’s not coming back till June now. The manager did say they’d have him back in the summer if they have a vacancy so fingers crossed.

The commute is a potential issue. The place is in Twickenham. This is a 2 hour commute by train from us. He'd assumed he'd save money by living at home. This may be a dealbreaker because accommodation or transport costs would be astronomical. No wonder journalists are all of a 'type'.

@Piggywaspushed @icanbewhatiwant great news for you both.

Piggy could he live in a shared house in Egham? Couple of stops from Twickenham on the train, lots of postgrad shared houses because of royal Holloway, looking at 600-700pcm so a lot better than London which would be minimum 850 and probably more?

Yes, I think that might be an idea. They did say something about helping to sort house shares. Tbh he pays 600 pcm in Birmingham! When DS1 did his MA we didn't fund it but obviously he has a loan for the course and then he just paid accommodation . We might have to help DS2 out more but DH doesn't like the idea of one sibling getting more financial help.Annoyingly, ITV have just announced a Birmingham based traineeship but they want people without a degree. This seems to be a New Thing.

Ds1 phoned yesterday, on his once a month phonecall. I have to text him 'are you still alive', in order to get that. He's busy with lectures, church stuff, hiking in the Lake District. I'm glad he's happy, I wish he'd slow down a bit though.

@Oblomov24 that sounds like me when I was at uni. My mum used to post phone cards to me asking me to call home. Great to know he's happy though and can make time to call sometimes.
DD was apparently surprised the other day when chatting to her friends that they don't all call home every day. Every single day. Sometimes several times. It's not because she's unhappy, she just likes chatting and sharing. Bad mum sometimes ignores her calls 😱
If DS calls unprompted he either needs a cash top-up or a cuddle. He's not great at idle chat but we do speak briefly everyday - along the lines of 'wake up, take your meds, don't loose anything today'

@mummyinbeds mine too - she still messages us every evening to say goodnight and gets cross if we don't reply!

Dd is a sharer/chatter too but it’s more just lots of texts and voicenotes with the occasional phone call. We’ve managed to have a call with ds most weeks since he’s been away. I’m hoping we continue to have that much contact when he’s at uni but I’m not sure we will. Once you get him on the phone he talks loads but he can’t be bothered with texting!

I get Wordle score every day at 10 am.

Very pleased for your Ds, piggy. Hope the accommodation works out. Our girl used to rarely ring or message, but she’s in touch a lot now. She’s been having a torrid time on a group project, they've been let down by other students, but she has coped brilliantly, and I think it’s been good for her. She likes things well planned and predictable, but life is about adapting to events beyond your control, so she needs to get used to that, and understand that sometimes it can even make things better. It’s also looking quite hopeful for the year abroad. And she’s made a friend, they saw a film and ate together last week. So that’s good. She’s starting to want to do young person stuff. Shes desperate to try weed. I hadn’t got the heart to tell her that most people don’t share such ambitions.with their parents! So I think her emotional age is starting to catch up with her actual age.

My DS went for a Parkrun with someone else. DH - who is far more nosy than he would acknowledge- managed to winkle out of him that it was a girl and then told me I had to find out more details from DS!

All I got was her name and that she is in the band... DH was annoyed.

DS phones on average once or twice a week, occasional text in between but it’s usual all functional, things he needs advice on, sometimes to tell me a result for an assignment or plans for coming home, but we chat as well when he calls. He has a decent social life at uni. DD is starting to develop hers at home too, she has finally started meeting one or two friends from college and has re-kindled a friendship from school by bumping into the friend on a train. DS is a keen parkrunner and has got me into it too, he has one right outside his door at uni but doesn’t like the course so gets up at 6.30 to get a bus to another one 10 miles away. We don’t have a local one but there are three within a 10 mile radius and I go to two of them regularly (3rd is too hilly). I am very slow but get a great sense of achievement from it.

Glad your girl has found a friend @Zebracat and well done to her on the project work, those can be a nightmare.

Great news from your girls @Zebracat and @ExpensiveDecoration , lovely that they're finding their feet socially. That made me laugh about the weed @Zebracat !

We get all girl -related news from ds, via dd usually. She speaks to him a lot; she's really missing him despite being very busy at uni! He did tell us there were 'many fair maidens' at the missionary base where he spent a few days, but they were all American or German, so too much effort to pursue 😂

@crazycrofter Your DS sounds hilarious, i did a right belly laugh on reading his description of the girls. Good to see the Holy Spirit is in control!

Loving the openness of @Zebracat DD and the flowery phrasing of @crazycrofter DS. Our DC are turning out, as a group, to have fantastic characters.

DS seems a bit bored at the moment. Last assignment has gone in. Only 3 hours per week contact time up to Easter then just exams in the final term. He's not one to start revision 'too early'. If it was not for sport I think he would be home for free food and earning a bit at his holiday job.

That seems the wrong way round @EwwSprouts , everything fizzling out a bit already!? Has he done a dissertation? Dd is really busy, has her dissertation and several assignments still to submit (she hasn’t submitted anything for semester two yet, I think one is due next week). Just one exam though thankfully.

She’s also yet to sort out her housing for next year. She’s definitely going to live with her course friend who’s also staying for the masters but they want to find more housemates. They’re meeting/interviewing a girl from NTU next week, as she’s doing a masters at UoN next year!

Ds always writes in flowery/Shakespearean language, it’s really funny! It seemed to start in sixth form when a teacher told him off for being too casual (I think he wrote ‘yo sir’ in an email or something!). I get texts like ‘Mother I wish you not to serve me my breakfast tomorrow morn, for I grow weary of being such an undisciplined, dependent, obstreperous scallywag’ 🤣

I too am still laughing at crazy's lovely ds and his 'fair maidens'. What a lovely young man he is. He'll be a catch for some young wench!

@crazycrofter His texts to the 'fair maidens' must be fascinating; they won't know what hit them .

DS had a bad review from work yesterday and is crestfallen. To date, all his reviews have been great, but he had one for the first time with an associate director and it was quite harsh. The worst bit was he was caught falling asleep in a training session so he's concluded he probably won't be offered a graduate position.
I've told him to take on board the very constructive criticism he was given and it couldn't have come at a better time before he graduates and goes fully into work. He's really trying now to take notes at every meeting and repair his image but can't miss his grim face all day. I've told him even if he doesn't get asked back he's still got a year work experience on his CV and it will hold him in good stead for jobs.

Oh that's a shame @shimy, but I think your advice is perfect. Most people get some negative feedback early in their careers but as long as he acts on it, it should be fine. I remember working with new grads and there were often things they were unaware of in terms of how they came across - it's quite normal. Also, have I remembered wrongly or does he have ADHD? If so, the staying awake in meetings can be a real challenge. I think I have it (undiagnosed, but both kids do) and I really struggle with extreme tiredness and droopy eyelids in meetings! I'm not sure I've found the answer, but taking notes definitely helps. And you're right, even if he doesn't get offered a grad position, the work experience will be a plus point on his CV.

You're right about the fair maidens 😂In fact, I'm logged in to one of his social media accounts. His friends arrived at the missionary base before he did and one of them said on the group chat 'I can't wait for them to meet 'ds', they won't know what's hit them!'