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Original poster

Shocking texts/calls from your Uni age kids

313 replies

seashaken · 22/07/2026 14:21

I'll kick off with:

"What temperature should I wash my sheets and towels at?"

He'd been there 9 months.

OP posts:
LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 22/07/2026 20:11

TigerRag · 22/07/2026 15:59

Not a call or text but my mum went to my sister's student house not long after she'd moved in. One of her friends thought the washing machine was broken because she couldn't open the door just after it had stopped. She was told to leave it a few minutes and she can open it

That’s not that shocking though.

citychick · 22/07/2026 20:11

Just in today...
Email from accommodation to say this is the final email regarding accommodation. Please confirm by Thursday 9am (tomorrow), or your request for accommodation will be cancelled.
Just how many emails has DC had regarding this confirmation...Angry
(Lecture from DH about checking emails on a twice daily schedule. And less buying crap off Temu)
Ugh

Jellycatspyjamas · 22/07/2026 20:15

Kindling1970 · 22/07/2026 15:25

It amazes me that some adults just call mum and dad rather than google something. This a generation who are always on their phones.

although my brother is 40 and still calls my parents when he has any problem because they didn’t tell him from a young age to try and work something out for himself.

Because sometimes it’s nice to speak to your mum or dad, I hope my kids call me about help with random stuff well into adulthood.

RedGlassHeart · 22/07/2026 20:21

LilyForrest · 22/07/2026 18:16

I think i have the same machine & like you only use mixed load 😂

Edited
Show quote history

Hi fellow mixed-loaders!

Cuwins · 22/07/2026 20:23

Optimisticdramalarma · 22/07/2026 19:42

I've got loads of these stories but one that sticks is dd (then aged 20) had been asked by me to take the clothes out of the washer,hang it on the line,stick the next load on (showed her what to do) and said to use a capful of white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner (it was a white load-mainly towels)
I even left the bottle of white vinegar on top of the machine
Went out,came back and she was standing there,brown stains all over my washing and she's swearing blind she didn't know what had happened
Yep,she'd ignored the white vinegar and gone looking for the malt vinegar
The load was ruined

Ds moved in with his girlfriend and I suddenly got a message 'mum,ring me,it's urgent'
Just as I was about to ring him,I got a picture message
Of his willy-with a huge lump on the end
'Do I need to see a doctor?'
'Er,yes,make an appointment now and don't ever send me a dick pic again son'
He was fine In the end

Or the time dd microwaved an egg
In a bowl,didn't crack it and it had no water
The microwave door blew off and only just missed her sisters head

I am famous for having once been asked to wash the lettuce for dinner and I did- with hand soap! 🤦‍♀️😂 however I should point out I was about 8 at the time

TheEponymousGrub · 22/07/2026 20:29

mine got laundry baskets for their 16th birthdays and from that date they got to do their own laundry
This is brilliant @hahabahbag !
I am doing this RIGHT AWAY.

TheDenimPoet · 22/07/2026 20:32

Kindling1970 · 22/07/2026 15:25

It amazes me that some adults just call mum and dad rather than google something. This a generation who are always on their phones.

although my brother is 40 and still calls my parents when he has any problem because they didn’t tell him from a young age to try and work something out for himself.

Sometimes they don't even need the help, they just don't want to admit they miss home, and it's a good way to start a conversation.. I know because I did it.

TheScottishPlay · 22/07/2026 20:34

First weeks were how to steam veg, what to do if someone was sick in the bin and pics of washing machine at the student accommodation laundrette so 'We could decipher it together.'

Last November it was a call from a paramedic at 1am to say he was in an ambulance with an 'obviously broken ankle' having slipped on ice after an unexpected snowstorm.

Happily he graduated 3 weeks ago.

D3vonmaid · 22/07/2026 20:35

REP22 · 22/07/2026 16:20

DBro and his Uni housemates were doing their first Sunday roast (pre internet). He rang me to ask if he needed to put the veg on to boil at the same time as the chicken went into the oven to roast.

In fairness, he is now long-graduated, happily married with kids and an absolute master of the roast. His Christmas dinners are epic.

In fairness, my mum would say yes to that question, as she grew up in the 50’s and thinks all veg needs a vigorous boil.

KnickerlessParsons · 22/07/2026 20:44

Breadlegs · 22/07/2026 16:02

Answering these questions is our only shot at immortality. For generations the washing temperature advice will be passed down parent to child. That's your mark on this world. Sorry it wasn't like the taj Mahal or something, but it's quite impressive.

Just like gravy!
I had an urgent, middle of the night text from DD when she was in Aus a few years ago. She’d volunteered to make a Sunday roast for a group of friends who were missing home - it all went well until the gravy making. My grandmothers method lives on in her great grand daughters.

YoQuieroVino · 22/07/2026 20:47

Yogafiend · 22/07/2026 20:06

Oh no! I wouldn’t cope 😂. I have similar but I have a towels and a bed linen program. On the other hand I don’t have anti stain nor synthetics and my full load is 90 min. I mean… so much to choose from

Show quote history

How is the ‘towel’ and ‘bed linen’ programme different to the ‘full load’ programme?

StinkerTroll · 22/07/2026 20:48

'I don't know what to have for tea? Can you tell me?' She was so exhausted she couldn't hold a sensible thought in her head bless her, I had to talk her through the rest of her evening to get her into bed ASAP! (She was in placement the next morning so couldn't just crash!)

DurinsBane · 22/07/2026 20:48

orangehandles · 22/07/2026 14:51

'What do you do with kale?' was my all-time favourite.😁

Throw it in the food waste bin (I hope was your answer 😁)

OpheliaHamlet · 22/07/2026 20:50

I was didn’t go to Uni - just straight on to a work placement (so, I was 18, and it very much was my first adventure into the Big Bad World)
The most cringeworthy thing I can remember calling my mum, to get her opinion on was - a pack of unopened mince, that I had bought at beginning of the 1st week had turned shade of brown, and also had a very pungent smell to it… I wanted to know if meant I needed to cook it a different way🙄 I
I had previously been told off for wasting food, so I honestly though there might be something that could be done with fetid piece of gunky meet😁

pastadish · 22/07/2026 20:52

Kindling1970 · 22/07/2026 15:25

It amazes me that some adults just call mum and dad rather than google something. This a generation who are always on their phones.

although my brother is 40 and still calls my parents when he has any problem because they didn’t tell him from a young age to try and work something out for himself.

I love that my children still call me or their dad. They know how to Google why would you assume young people don’t think about doing that? maybe they just want to speak to their parents. Also you can get one answer quickly rather than sift through mountains of conflicting information.
I’ll give them the answers for as long as I’m alive

lazyarse123 · 22/07/2026 20:53

Dd went to Uni from home in Leeds and her friend went to York. They went to a concert in Newcastle on the train DD left her car in York. Anyway about 10.30 I got a call, somehow DD had missed the train, her friend had got on and she was on her own, the station was closing so I phoned the police and explained she was alone. They were very good and picked her up and rang me to say which police station she was at. She felt a bit daft and scared but she was fine. That was a fun night driving up and down the A1. She got a train to York the next day to pick her car up.

Surprisingmyself · 22/07/2026 20:59

@Kindling1970 do you have kids? If you do, and they call you from uni they won’t asking you something… will you say “oh just google it you weirdo”?

lostntranslation · 22/07/2026 21:09

The first week at uni was eventful for DS. He proudly told me how he did a full load of washing on the cheapest setting and it came out in 20mins hot and dry. He had put a washing liquid tab in so it covered the clothes and had packed them all away before he called me. He didnt believe me when i said it must have been the drier as clothes dont come out of the washing machine dry! He had to wash his entire wardrobe as he didnt know which had been in the drier and had washing liquid all over them.

The next day he put a plastic tray in the oven after a night out thinking it was a baking tray. Melted all over the oven! I had to order new oven racks and sneak them into halls.

The first week was a real learning curve.

JustGiveMeReason · 22/07/2026 21:13

HelenaWilson · 22/07/2026 17:18

They used a landline.

No student digs I or any of my friends ever lived in had a landline. You had to go out to a phone box to make a call.

and you were calling a .......... ?

LoserWinner · 22/07/2026 21:23

Phone call from eldest son:
Son: Mum, I just had a call from little bro.
Me: Oh. What did he want?
Son: He was hungry and wanted to know how to bake a potato. He asked me not to tell you.
Me: So why are you telling me?
Son: I’m not sure it’s safe for him to live away from home yet.

Middleaged73 · 22/07/2026 21:27

Shall I call my landlord to replace a bulb? No, was our reply…go to Sainsbury’s down the road and buy one. Your landlord wouldn’t appreciate a round trip of 100+ miles to change a light bulb!!

Socialclimber12 · 22/07/2026 21:28

Son and his mates rented quite a swish flat in third year at uni. I went to visit him after a couple of months, took supplies etc. He did some washing up whilst I was there and I said is the dishwasher broken. “What dishwasher “ he said, none of them had found it in nearly three months despite me sending my son an initial supply of dishwasher tablets. It was quite clearly mentioned in all the paperwork/inventory!

troothfairy · 22/07/2026 21:28

Decades ago my friend couldn’t get hold of her mum to ask her how long to cook broccoli for, so she dialled 100 (BT Operator Services) and a very nice lady, allegedly called Maureen, spent 15 minutes talking her through preparing the entire meal.

Atschjvkbgj · 22/07/2026 21:29

I just got sent pictures - cooker, washer etc and ‘what do I press?’

CrazyOwlLady · 22/07/2026 21:31

sooo many…. son has just finished first year…
How do I get raspberry vodka out of a white table?
is this cheese ok to eat? (Picture of it covered in white mould)
someone used the hoover to hoover up sick.
how do I get the airer to stand up?
can I eat this chicken one day out of date?
am I cooking this right? (Sends photo
of mince beef in a pan)
Yes I had dinner, bacon, egg and Jaffa cakes
How do I tell nan and grandad id like some money for my birthday?
bro the f in fridge has frozen my chicken omfg

i could go on…,,,😂 love him

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