The Naked Crepe

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Psst, over here!

And welcome cocoa and good journey back nu!

MrsW - DD1 has absolutely no idea what she wants to do with her life. She is not even sure what she wants to do at uni, and I suspect (strongly) that she is opting for French because it is an easy option. She is not a linguist and has no passion for languages. What she would like to do is live at home and volunteer in the charity shop. I say that she has no idea what she wants to do, but she has little interest in finding out what is out there, either. DD2 wants to draw and has her life plan mapped out, which culminates in her getting a job with either Pixar or Disney as an animator. I knew what I wanted to do from age 13, and against all school and family advice, achieved it. My economics teacher said he would eat what was left of his hair if I was accepted, and refused to give me a reference. The arrogance of the man.

I am very stressed about this forthcoming holiday, and work, and don't see how I can get everything done before I go away.

Bon voyage NU.
Mrs W that is all so interesting about job hunting. And not just a little frightening. Dd is within the Scottish 4year system, so she still has two more years and not just one, I remember graduating and failing to find work in the 80s and desperately enrolling on an MA course for something to do. ( when it was a sponsored course and didn't have to pay ) dear goodness it is so hard for the poor childer these days.
Cocoa, welcome

MrsS, I'm not sure that the mix of certainty and cluelessness has changed. I had no idea when I graduated but knew I had to get a job so did. And when it turned out to have been the wrong one I got another. It just seems that now you are expected to work it out first which is really difficult when you have no experience of what any job is really like.

Spot on with the being expected to know - MrsW - and although your DD1 is taking it to a maddening limit, MrsS, I do feel one should be able to chop and change a bit. I made my way through an MA, realised I didn't want to do a PhD, did various lefty jobs from which I was mostly ignominiously sacked, found myself in press offices (and an excellent boss in Molly) and then shuffled sideways into journalism...and I may grumble about it but I do like doing it. Hmmm.

Off for Monday Ladyjog. An hour of fiction and a day of toil await!

I'd go further and say not only did I not know then, I still don't really know even though I quite like what I'm doing. I have no idea if any of the non choices I made along the way were right for me. DD was quite clear at the time and really pleased to get her teaching gig but now sometimes feels she rushed into things and should have caught her breath first. Agree, Mrs S, that the rush for them to know starts too young - right back with GCSEs sometimes I think

Impressed by the early morning ladyjog, MI

Crem and NU - both your holidays looked lovely. Hope settling back going ok

Welcome Cocoa, great name

Welcome Cocoa!

MrsS Once you get on that plane, they can't get to you and what you haven't managed to get done...well sod it. DD1 sounds like a candidate for a gap year....

Stropps I'm so glad DD is finding the course interesting and is on a pretty even keel. Your instinct in how to manage things is spot on.

Monty Will be in touch with ways to get together for coffee. Sorry things domestically, family wise and child care wise have been so trying.

I suppose I always knew deep down I'd end up in Healthcare (even when I was trying to decide what to do when I was in 6th form), of one sort or another. There are so many aspects of the NHS I don't miss...and wouldn't go back, I don't think but I miss the team and the camaraderie. Should DCs know what they want to do by 18? It's very hard if an obvious passion for a subject hasn't surfaced by then, isn't it.

Anyway... I am off to the first day of workshops and rehearsals. I am excited and absolutely bloody terrified. wibble wibble wibble

Addle!
I am the opposite and knew what I wanted to do from being really tiny. But that is pretty unusual.

DD doesn't know what she wants to do for a career yet, but at least she's settled on a course.
And DS told us last week that he might like to follow in our footsteps (well, DH's!) But I expect he wouldn't turn down a signing to a Premiership team

I think now that for some jobs (medicine?) one is expected to know very early and do loads of Stuff. And for many others, the dc will be faced with being expected to work for nothing/very little/fixed term contracts (there are loads of these in my field now - awful), topped up with zero hours stuff etc etc. So they will HAVE to change course loads because so many jobs have moved out of the traditional structures and they are sold the myth that this is groovy and flexible and it fact it is exploitative and pants. That "job"interview I went for in the summer was "freelance" - it met vv few of HMRC criteria for freelance status.

Well done to Stropps DD, it sounds as though she's getting a handle on things - for now anyway.

My two both knew what they wanted to do from early teens, so Uni choices were much easier, but many of their friends took years after graduation to settle into anything, and they nearly all seem to do Masters now, either to try to stay one step ahead or to pass the time while they're working out what to do, or because they couldn't find a job after their first degree. Utter madness really, considering the cost, and the massive student loan debts they all have and will probably never pay off.

Glad you said it addle - cos that's how I feel - I didn't know and I still don't.... should probably have been an academic....

My honest feeling is that I should have hone into my fathers business. I know i would have been ace at selling houses and passing

Exams. What i was thinking regarding art, was that it was 'easy'
Oh well.

I suspect I should have tried my hand at fiction more seriously, earlier.

Though I won't be saying that when no buggering agent wants it.

So do we have a vague drinking arrangement this Sat?

I think I should have gone into computing. Dunno what I want to be now.

Just coming on for a quick vent. Discovered this morning that DD hasn't had a dental appointment for three years. DH was taking her to orthodontist, which finished over a year ago, but not to regular dentist. Dentist has not sent reminder for two years (and that was only a text). But they have continued to draw the monthly direct debit. I am furious with everyone including myself. But also fed up with being the only one who can think about or organise anything.

Aaaaaaargh

Oh Auriga, I would be STEAMING.

Is the other parent meant to be responsible then?
Or the teen themselves?

Yes, since you ask, he is supposed to be responsible. He has not worked since 2009. He was attending appointments with her (because they happened when I was at work) and re-booking as they went but it seems he just stopped. Neither of them thought to mention it and I do not actually have eyes in my bum, although clearly that is a failing on my part.

Given that he has not been rushing around for work for 7 years, I am not surprised you are raging!

IMHE with my DH, he is good at being responsible for football training/matches/lifts and past-papers practice for some GCSEs. Anything that requires remembering over time, or going to appointments, would be a disaster.
Of course, in his Very Important Job, he has an incredibly dependable PA, so no-one at work has picked up on this.

Auriga, LTB. THough by that reasoning I need to leave myself, as DS hasn't had a dentist appointment for aaaaaaages. And nor have I.

Just spoken to the recruitment consultant about this job. Kept wanting to say "but you don't seem to understand quite how shit I am". You'll be pleased to know I didn't say this. Apparently there are 'fewer than five' people in the running for the job. It is SO MUCH WORK though. 130 pages a month, not masses of adverts, staff of three writers. Including me. And freelancers I dare say. And a to celeb to liaise with every month. There's a clue for you ladies as to the nature of the mag...

Herbs, I charge very reasonable rates

Auriga, I am sorry. That really is crappy non-co-parenting.

I've counted again. It's about 130 editorial pages a month. That's shitloads.

MI - this is a niche area, but I'm sure you could rise to the challenge!

Addle - I still don't know what I should have done either. I just knew which subject I wanted to study (one that doesn't lead to a career). I've encouraged all my DC's to make a decision based on the fact that you don't necessariy "find yourself", so you may as well go for something solid and useful in the meantime.

Auriga - would be mad as hell - especially as there's a direct debit involved.

Herbs - even the job interview would be good experience.

Had an exhausting day today, already had a cold and then DH woke up to catch a train at 5.30 after which I couldn't get back to sleep. Then started the car and it indicated "engine fault" - drove it to Speedy in a panic and had to get two buses and walk a lot to get to work. On the plus side, the car is fixed as we have to drive to York at the weekend so hoping everything is tip top. Is a rather large bill to show DH though