Though She Be Crepey, She Is FIERCE!

[QueenQueenie]

Ta Da!

She did 5 because she was told she had to in order to get into a decent university (one was the silly "Critical Thinking"). She was going to give up French and the school and I encouraged her in this. So then she turned round and told us we were all stupid and she needed to carry on with it. She now thinks her only option is to drop down a year and do the whole thing again. And then says she would rather jump off a cliff than do this.
These arguments have been going around and around for months, as the teachers all informed her post-mocks and then again in Feb that unless she changed tack, she wasn't going to do well. She knew perfectly well, but she just carried on with her head-in-the-sand behaviour and then stayed up until 3am every night during exams "revising" (I.E. Trying to make up for 7 months of missed lessons). She has been digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole all year, but if you offered to help her out of it, she would just tell you to f-off.
Am now just hoping she comes back in one piece today.

So sorry to hear all of that news, Stropps. Hope DD comes home soon .

Please let us know when she does.

Ah Stropps, you poor things. So difficult. Do you think that out of school and in a fe college , she might thrive? I know a lot of them with discipline and school rules issues tend to do better out of that kind of environment.
She will find her way Stropps; I feel a lot of this maybe down to maturity rather than anything MH-related. Hope you can weather the rest of the day, let it all sink in and draw a line in the sand. Much love.

to PP, QQ. There'll be 'a doctor in the house' soon lol.

Sun out here!!!!!!!! It's a miracle . I am digging in compost in a leisurely manner.

Oh yes, and thanks to clear skies, we the most tremendous show of the shooting stars for about 5 whole minutes. It was breath-taking.

Lucky you Crem - here there is torrential rain and thunder... oh and it's somehow muggy and freezing cold at the same time .

Let us know how things turn out with dd today Stropps - we can hold your hand / pat you on the back / as appropriate...

MI - how did you get on falling on your sword?

CV - hoping ds isn't planing on that approach - I did things the other way round - ms slacker from slacktown at school then upped my game and took everyone by surprise - leaving home was a blessed relief for me

Lalsy - glad you're feeling better. Was GBBO good? It's so foul here I might just watch it on iplayer if I can persuade ds2 to join me.

My lot are home. They are tired and grumpy - I miscalculated how long the oven would take to heat up so their lunch wasn't ready, cue massive tantrum from Mr Inferior. Now he's stomping round the house martyrdly putting their washing on and when I suggested he get a nap said nononono he had to catch up work because he's going in tomorrow. So I said brightly and cheerily OK. And I've just remembered I put the sheets in the wash so he'll have to make the bed anyway.

I am almost tempted to tell them to sod off to Spain without me.

No update re sword - I'm leaving it with them. In truth, having given it as an option I feel a huge relief - they can't sack me now.

Nooo, MI, you go to Spain without them, not the other way around.

Crem, I hope you are right and this is all mostly about immaturity. The Prodigal dd has now returned in one piece and had a blub about the fact that she didn't give up French, as that would probably have made a significant difference to her other results. My face may have gone a teensy bit purple while I was suppressing the deadly phrase "I told you so."
She is huffing about retakes and generally raging, but so far exhibiting reactions that are completely normal. She will obviously have to re-think and downgrade yet again as regards uni plans. ahhhh bum. Too much to think about.

Wish she could see that taking a gap year would be a perfectly reasonable plan. Oh well.

Hope Molly's dd has fared better on the results front!

Anyway, onwards and upwards etc etc. Back to work.

Massive phewStropps. And well done on going purple. Best way f she rants and rages now - she can decide what to do when dust has settled and school has sorted out year 13s. Her reactions do indeed sound utterly normal. You must be wrung out, hope you can relax later a bit now she is safely at home.

Dd and random boy chatted throughout gbbo. May have to watch again

Am watching right now - 'tis most enjoyable!

Yes, a gap year or other change of environment - Cremo speaks sense - could be a really good thing IF she'd only go for it.

I'm going to go to Sainsbury's to get the various things Ocado didn't deliver/I forgot to order as we have friends coming to dinner tonight. Mr Inferior said huffily he'd seen I took the tinned tomatoes off the order, huff stomp. I said cheerily that yes, I had, it was a mistake, what a pity, nothing too major, I'll go and pick some up. I've done this week's grovelling, I'm not bloody doing it over a tin of effing tomatoes.

I didn't ask them to get up at idiotic hours/stay up till god knows when/take unpaid leave. If they all feel grotty, that's their affair. And if my cheery refusal to rend my garments and pile ash upon my head irritates further that's not my fault either, is it.

(This used to work a treat with my mum, too. Ignore huffiness, be cheery and refuse to grovel. Once I'd worked out how much it annoyed her, I stopped trying to placate her if she was cross.)

Stropps sorry to hear re DD. Administrators son got b, cd and u . The school have said he can stay but all his friends are out...

Here meeting did not go well. They won't budge. Apparently we are inefficient so we need to innovate and suck up the work... I resisted telling them that thinking about innovation takes TIME which I will be using stopping the wheels falling off the whole thing..... I now have to tell my member of staff....

Congratulations to QQDS and RoseDS, and commiserations to DD, Stropps. At least she is reacting in the right way. DS didn't go to a high class uni because of his results, but thrived at Teesside and hasn't looked back since. Perhaps a different environment might be the answer for DD.

Glad you're feeling better, Lalsy. MI, keep on smiling through clenched teeth.

I think DH has just finished the trees so I had better go out and help him sweep up, otherwise I am not doing my bit.

BD.

Stropps and love. Crying and raging is good and normal and the other Crepeys have said all the words that I would say. Let the dust settle. A way forward will present itself.

Well, DS aced his languages, A and A, and did well enough in RE, a B. But (and it's a big one) he is SO disappointed with his grade in music… C. He just can't see past it at the moment, because it means he may have to drop it and continue Spanish which he hates (more the teachers than the actual language), just to get into the Uni courses that he wants.

We're just back from school. I have never seen so many red eyed teens in one corridor …What is wrong with the world?

Anyway….I have made all the right noises (hard, because I can't bear seeing him this upset…)…he's going for a remark in the music as he's on borderline of a B, but we'll have to see. I've told him not to make any decisions until he's had a few days to reflect.

Who'd be a parent…

Hope it calms down on the domestic front MI

BD

Congrats and commiserations to all exam mums and offspring.

Here, I have spent the whole day with Brian, and its my 10th wedding anniversary too. We haven't even exchanged cards I have either been puking, asleep or feeling hideous.

Oh Waf sorry you are sick.get well sooooon
Rose -dd same thing with English -feel your agony
BD crapola. So sorry

Oh WAF - that sounds awful. Hope you feel better soon.

Stropps - tough for DD, even if it was not entirely unexpected - Crem's idea of a gap year sounds a good plan. I do think it's very difficult at that age to make these big decisions.

Rose - great news on the language grades - fingers crossed for the music remark.

Have been into Paris for lunch with a friend. If it was cooler, it would be fabulous as the streets are empty, the Parisians having gone on holiday. However, it is unbearably humid - even the DC's are mooching around moaning. Have bought pizzas and salad bags for tonight as I refuse to cook.

Oh BD. Arses.

And WAF. And the Roseboy.

I have returned from Sainsburys with a fetching frock - a black cotton broderie number with pale brown cotton lining - so I shall go on holiday after all.

What a lot of posts!

BD . So very sorry you have all this shit to put up with. Sending strength.

Stropps, I hope that DD finds a way through. You are clearly being a huge support. Huge well done on the lack of ITYS. I can't bite my tongue often enough, it seems.

Huge well done to QQDS and to Roseboy. Rose, so sorry about the music result. I hope the remark is quick and in his favour. When will you hear? Sorry too about the impact on university choices. So much for these kids to weigh up.

Well done on the dress, MI.

WAF, sorry about Brian.

Hello Hatty.

Still in packing hell. Back later once it is (i hope) all done.

Commiserations to DD Stropps - might this be the wake-up call she needs, or is it likely to have the opposite effect?

And sorry about Brian, WAF. That is horrid.

I have spent six (6, VI) hours in A & E with DD1 who managed to blend her finger this morning, rather than the blueberries. We saw three different doctors who recommended three different courses of treatment (it is mashed, and broken). They finally went for the operation on Monday morning, so that they can see better if there is nerve and/or tendon damage. Monday morning is when she starts her intensive French course, so I am going to have to call them and say she will either be in on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, depending on how she feels.

We dashed out this morning without waking DD2, as DD1 was spurting blood everywhere. DD2 surprisingly, woke early, and found the house deserted and the kitchen covered in blood. She said she thought we had been kidnapped, particularly as I didn't answer my phone. Fortunately DH arrived home at that moment, as she was about to go and see our downstairs neighbour, to see if she knew anything about the kidnap.

Blimey MrsS, that's a bit too exciting. I like the chilled approach to possible kidnap though . Hope it pans out well.

Rose, poor old ds. He shouldn't decide anything till the remark is through (and v sensible to go for it if close to the upper boundary anyway) - I know so many people whose grades were wrong (including A2 maths papers going up by over 10 UMS). dd is the only teen I know who had a remark and got not just the same grade but the same UMS - and in philosophy which is notoriously unreliable, I assume because a) it is very small and b) run by people who are not sure they exist or whether the thing in front of them that looks like a red pen might in fact be a blue elephant.

WAF, you poor thing. Hope you are better tomorrow.

I live in perpetual hope of elephants.

Rose, big congrats to your ds - and I hope the music re-mark pays dividends.

Aaargh, MrsS, what a start to the day. I hope poor dd1's fingers are going to be OK. She appears to be having a very eventful summer holiday. Ouch, ouch and ouch again. (Finger injuries REALLY hurt - somehow more than you feel they should).

Dd wants her results to be a closely-guarded secret. Oops Might have to report my own post.

Dd will not currently entertain the idea of a gap year "as I will be lonely and all my friends will have gone". We'll see. Am feeling a bit headachey, after fielding loads of calls, texts and FB messages asking about Dd's results and having to deal with everyone's shock and exclamations like "But that's such a shame, because she is so bright." Gah. I know....

Interestingly, in A & E, there appeared to be one doctor whose remit was to "get through the time wasters". He was very loud, so you could hear every question he asked, and he would start off by asking "Have you been to see your GP about this?" The answer was always "I couldn't get an appointment for two to three weeks, and I was in pain." He actually asked one chap "Haven't you heard of paracetamol or ibuprofen?" A quick exam or pep talk and they were all on their way, back to the GP or the pharmacy. I did wonder if the loudness was a ploy as several people on his list seemed to leave before being seen. It is a bit mad that you can't see a GP for several weeks, but maybe they shouldn't have closed all of the walk-in centres in London, as perhaps most of these people would have gone to one of those rather than A & E?

I was quite entertained by one who appeared to be a regular:

"What appears to be the problem this week, Mr S?"

"I'm dying."

"What, again?"