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News of non-dancing children.....


JulieW

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just had to add this - after having tried 3 times for a dancing daughter and getting three boys (wonderful but non-dancing) and then getting two grandsons (gorgeous but probably also non-dancing), my daughter-in-law has just informed us that she is pregnant with a girl!!!!!   No doubt with two big brothers she'll be a tomboy and won't want to dance, but I can finally satisfy my desperation to buy pink cute and sparkly fairies etc!  Yeahhhhh! :) :) :)

Edited by Dance*is*life
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Wonderful news - congratulations :-)

 

Although my daughter has danced since she was 3 (now 18) she's not "girly" at all. Hates anything pink and I've had issues over the years with all things ballet being so pink (I have 2 sons who dance/danced so were very aware of thus issue). Fortunately things are changing.

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I don't care for ballet pink, personally. My leotard on Wednesday was chilli red and gorgeous. I do not have a single pink one, and if I ever do buy a tutu, it won't be pink! Congratulations on the baby girl, though :)

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I loved pink as a child - my bedroom had pink wallpaper and my bedspread was pink -  I actually wore pink clothes into my twenties!  Embarrassing, I know :wub:   I tend to wear richer colours nowadays, but obviously I still have a dormant pink desire!   And there's nothing quite so cute as a new born baby girl in tiny pink clothes, even if once she grows up and has the choice, she opts for black!

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Another proud mummy moment from me sorry...

My son played in his first music festival yesterday. as I've said before he is excrutiatingly shy and it was a big surprise that when his teacher asked him if he would like to do it he even agreed. When he got up yesterday he was very anxious, saying his tummy felt funny so I told him that it was ok if he didn't want to go, but he insisted he did. When we arrived we discovered that the piano he would be playing was a great big Steinway concert grand placed up on the stage and I thought he might run away at that point! But when his number was called, he went up and played. I could have burst with pride as overcoming his shyness to do that was a major achievement. He started off fine but stumbled a couple of times and came off stage looking very upset but we gave him lots of reassurance about how proud we were of him and pointed out that most of the other children had probably done it before and that's why they seemed so much more confident.

And then the adjudicator stood up and gave her comments, saying that she wasn't worried about a few nervous mistakes at this age but was looking for good technique and the ability to interpret the music and put light and shade into it.....and my son had won! I couldn't believe it! I know it's only a local music festival and I don't think he's destined to be the new Lang Lang or anything but I do think he has some talent and it is lovely to have that recognised and to have his confidence given such a boost.

The adjudicator was absolutely marvellous. She gave every child a really constructive critique, and demonstrated on the piano what she meant.She managed to give corrections without sounding in the least bit judgemental. We watched a couple more classes afterwards  because we found her feedback so illuminating and enjoyable to listen to. It left my DD saying that she wished that some of the dance festival adjudicators she has had over the years were more like that!

All in all, a lovely day.

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What wonderful news. Good on him! And no wonder you're proud.

 

And yes, don't we all wish dance festival adjudicators had to give the same kind of feedback that music ones do. Don't get me started on 2 line critique sheets!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Huge congrats - now, all you need to do is start him on the viola/bass trombone/french horn/double bass and you can do the whole saturday school + vocational school bit all over again!!

 

On a different note, I think many music festivals tend to have slightly less tense atmospheres than dance festivals, and there is usually constructive feedback to be taken.  There are exceptions though !  I also am sad that attendance seems to be dropping, at least at some of the ones near us.  A couple seem to be on the verge of collapse which would be s shame.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone else in the midst of A levels? I'll be glad when it's over although she seems very calm! Re-sit biology paper today (to improve on mark) and daft general studies tomorrow ;-)

 

Oh and fleeced for nearly £300 booking fee from the uni accommodation people today! Thinking of asking for a discount for the hassle we've had as they've just changed to a different management company and they made a right bog of getting the website sorted (also the old company offered a discount for paying up front - this one doesn't).

 

Better go to bed - obviously a bit grumpy ;-)

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Probably just worn out after all the emotional drama of Mayerling yesterday!!

 

Good luck to your daughter doing her A levels and anyone else's sons and daughters too.

 

Don't tell her but I had recurring bad dreams about A levels for about ten years afterwards!! It was always I had gone to the wrong place or taken the wrong exam or couldn't get there on time or had left my pen at home and there were no others.....etc etc all in that ilk!

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I had one doing A levels and 1 doing GCSEs this time last year so I know where you are coming from and just a heads up Julie to check dates for 1st payment for rent for accommodation against 1st payment of student loan.  My DS had to pay 2 weeks before his loan was actually paid to him so we had to step into help him out.  I have heard at other unis though that the accommodation office were happy to have late payment of the first rent instalment if the loan came later, provided they were notified in advance.

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Thanks for the advice but I've given them my card details and she's going to pay us back out of her loan (well most of it - the accommodation's quite a bit more than the loan amount!)

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When non DD went to Uni we had real problems with the accommodation.  They (Unite) tried to take the terms accommodation out of my account before the direct debit date and didn't tell me.  Funds had not been transferred.  Non-DD phoned up in a flap as they said she hadn't paid so I paid by credit card over the phone and paid their extra £25.00 for the privalege.  They then took the money out of my account even thought they had assured me they wouldn't and I went overdrawn.  It took months to get the money refunded as they apparenly couldn't put back into my account it had to be a cheque and they got the address wrong and cheque returned etc, etc.  They never refunded the £25.00 which I think they should have done as the reason I set up a direct debit was so i didn't have to pay the £25.00.  No apology and no reparation made for the fact that I went overdrawn.  Even though the accommodation was brand new and non-dd first person to use it was not very good.  The extractors in the showers were not adequate and the steam used to set the fire alarm off.  The room heaters were not adequate either.  We bought a fan fire and she got into trouble for that!  Were really glad when first year was over and she moved into rented accommodation elsewhere in Exeter.  Otherwise non-dd loved Exeter, it's a very beautiful city :)

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What a nightmare Porthesia! 

 

Nottingham have changed to using CRM this year from Opal and it's been a bit of a pain so far - because they'd just changed companies it was taking ages for them to set up the website (and it took ages before I found out that they were no longer using Opal - several phone calls to the uni, the accommodation people, Opal), then some options weren't on the site (so more phone calls to CRM),

 

Not looking forward to the wait for results I must say - she has a habit of scaring us with the odd "dodgy module"! 

 

First driving lesson's booked for next week though, so she's happy (we'd always told her she had to wait until after A levels as she hasn't got a car to drive anyway, just wanted her to learn before uni).

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Good luck with the driving lessons Julie.  We didn't let non-dd learn before Uni as where the accommodaton was to start off with was walking distance from the campus and when she moved off campus there was nowhere to park a car!  Parking also very expensive on campus!  Learning to drive now but regret the decision now as it is taking her quite a while :(

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It's a bit of a gamble as she might pass her test and then not drive for years (although she might need to during vet school for work placements), but she could always do a refresher later.

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Hmm having same conversation with Stage Manager Son.  He missed his theory test first time as he was in a show which overran and he couldn't get out ..  but have persauded him it's worth passing his test before Uni.

 

We had reached an impasse on the car bit - nowhere to park in Birmingham, but his course means he will be travelling all over the West Midlands (and hopefully Stratford upon Avon!) to work, so he has decided to spend his savings on passing his motorbike test and upgrading his 125cc to a larger bike.

 

I am horrified particularly as I know it also means he will be travelling with Dancing Son on the back, whilst admitting it is a practical and sensible option. 

 

Of course, he can't see the problem !

 

meadowblythe

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It's expected in our family to take theory test on your birthday then test asap afterwards. DS even though he was away was able to do theory on his birthday and passed. He then passed on his 4th attempt! Silly mistakes! He has luckily been able to have his car at school as his houses have always had space. It has made life so much easier he can take hisself backwards and forwards on half terms and leave outs. Downside he takes far too much to school. At the moment though car is outside our house as when he was home last week he fractured his foot! Now wondering how we will get all of his stuff home at the end of term. Another bonus when he is home he cam drive around!

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Meadowblythe, has Stage Manager Son got a 16-25 railcard?  Cuts the cost and the rail service used to be very good.  I used to catch the train every day into Birmingham when I worked there.  Used to be a train every 10-15 minutes from Solihull - imagine it's not such a good service now.  I used to have a joint rail/bus pass in those days. worth it's weight in gold.

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Porthesia

 

Rail card much loved - in fact, admittedly according to his somewhat biased view, its cheaper to live in Birmingham and do casual work in London than live in London!  And the trains run pretty much all night ..

 

No, problem is getting to places where the trains don't run assuming he has to be back to college the next day, also work experience in the summer - he has just been taken on at a couple of large Christian Festivals which are in the middle of nowhere and no, it's not paid work.

 

As we also live in the middle of a different nowhere (Lincolnshire, so many sheep ..) I can quite see he wants his own transport, just trying to be grown up about it (me, not him).

 

Meadowblythe 

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Oh it's an exciting time eh?

We went to view Sheffield last weekend and Han fell in love with it (tho she was already from reading prospectus front to back!) Halls are lovely - is en suite normal? It was one bathroom per floor in my day!

She's just finished AS levels so it's a good kick to motivate her for yr 13 :)

As for car, she was adamant to drive ASAP and had 1st lesson on her bday and luckily passed both tests 1st time - so no more ballet runs for me! But as for her racking the M1 to Sheffield - I'm not sure! I'll try to discourage that one, everything is so central she won't need a car in term time x

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Just Ballet

 

Which course is she hoping to do at Sheffield? 

 

Not many of the students took cars in Exeter, most of the off campus accommodation was in Victorian terraced housing.  Normally 4 students per house and only room for 1 car outside.  We used to ring ahead and ask her to see if there was space for us to park when we visited - very narrow streets once cars are parked both sides and we have an old Landrover so lots of room needed! 

 

En-suite accommodation on campus as purpose built but 1 toilet in rented accommodation - between 4 girls and it was in the bathroom!  Must admit I thought the accommodation all throughout was a rip off.  Front door didn't look very secure to me, snail trails everywhere and the washing machine kept breaking down.  When you are taking in £1200/month I think you can buy a new washing machine instead of constanly getting it repaired.  We supplied the microwave and the TV.  Prospective tenants being shown round were excited by the microwave until it was pointed out that it didn't belong to the house.  Landlady rushed out to buy one!!

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Well - last exam was over yesterday so now the nervous wait for results.

 

We've gone for some "learner driver insurance" so Zoe can drive our car (a Mondeo estate!) so she went out for her first lesson with my husband yesterday while I was at dog training :) .  There's a big open area around some industrial type units near where I train, so they went there and just did some basic getting used to steering and the pedals!  Sounds like it went well and I think they're off out again tonight before her first "official" lesson tomorrow.  As I said, she won't have a car when she goes to uni but as she's hoping to be a vet, there'll come a time when she will need to be able to drive (and might find we have to get a car for some of her work placements in future years if they're in far-flung places) so it's definitely worth her doing it now.  I'm also really glad we've waited until after exams - she'd never have fitted in learning her driving theory and having lessons alongside difficult A levels and loads of dancing!

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If you google learner drive insurance there are a few companies that do it.  MY non DS had a policy in his own name for driving my car and you could choose how many months you wanted it for and/or renew monthly.  It expires automatically as soon as the learner passes their test.  It is far cheaper than adding a leaner to your own policy and because it is in their name would not effect your own insurance record if there was an accident.  We used 'covered learnerdriver' as that offered us the best deal but 'marmalade' is another one worth investigating.

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We too are using "Covered Learnerdriver".  It's something like £86 a month (less per month if you pay for more months in one go).  Much, much cheaper than putting her on our insurance and if she needs to make a claim (fingers crossed she won't) it's a £300 excess but it doesn't affect our no claims.  There are restrictions, but they're quite relaxed (like under a certain insurance group and a certain value - but they're really high)

 

They actually went out on the road last night - all went fine apart from beeing harrassed by a Jaguar driver!  Her instructor this morning said she was the best first-timer he'd had :)  (she did tell him about the car park, but when he said "that was brave of your dad" she decided not to tell him about the road ^_^

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Non DD has just heard that she's got a 2:1 in Economics and Management from Royal Holloway University. All those years of hard work has paid off for her. :)

 

She's got a Summer internship with Centrica at Windsor/Staines then she can have a break/holiday before applying for graduate jobs in accountancy.

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