Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To read the "Preparing for Uni" threads with a jaded eye

70 replies

TinklyLittleLaugh · 12/08/2015 16:29

Three years ago DS and I did a lovely excited trip around IKEA for kitchen kit and bedding. We got crockery, cutlery, cooking utensils, pans, knives, chopping boards, grater, colander, pizza wheel, the lot.

At the end of year one he said most of his crockery had gone awol because everyone had white. We replaced it with green.

I have just had a look at what he has for his final fourth year. He has one plate, one bowl, one lidless pan that originally belonged to someone else, a well used frying pan, one novelty mug and about ten speciality pint glasses.

DD is all enthusiastic for her trip to IKEA soon. Frankly my heart just isn't in it.

OP posts:
sleepyhead · 12/08/2015 17:12

I've still got (and use) a knife, casserole dish and frying pan that I got for going away to uni

Jeez that was 25 years ago Shock. No IKEA then. Asda all the way, except the casserole which was Le Creuset (how that didn't get nicked I don't know).

I also have a v battered Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course that my gran gave me so I'd eat properly..

BareGrylls · 12/08/2015 17:13

I sent DS last September with all ancient stuff of mine. Flowery plates and some cutlery that came free with something.
Unfortunately he brought it all home again.

Lightattheend · 12/08/2015 17:15

My cats drink water from the bowls I took to uni 29 years ago, they are indestructible and my dad bought them for me. I "gained" a cheese grater 27 years ago and its also still going strong. Dsd starts next month but commuting from home, she can have the grater she she buys her first home.

Lightattheend · 12/08/2015 17:15

When, not she!

CorporationPop · 12/08/2015 17:16

Let them buy their own stuff. Going to uni is all about learning to be independent. If they end up losing items, it's their own responsibility.

However....if you've got a cupboard full of novelty mugs that need chucking out...Wink

DressingGownFrown · 12/08/2015 17:17

Not long being out of uni, one of the fondest memories is trying to woo a guy with a meal cooked by me. However, we didn't want to sit in the kitchen because obviously my flat mates would come in and rip the shit out of us. So we ate in my room, him at the desk, my perched on the end of the bed. Tres Romantic.
I DID have crockery and cutlery for him though. Wink

Salmotrutta · 12/08/2015 17:19

I'm fairly sure all I went off with was a couple of sets of sheets and some towels from mums airing cupboard.
And my own clothes of course.

The flats I stayed in all had crockery and utensils and you payed a deposit, ticked off the itinerary and got your money back at the end of the year if it was all there. Confused

It was the same when DD went off - all she needed was her bedding and her own "gear" like hair dyers etc.

CaspoFungin · 12/08/2015 17:21

Yeah my last day of uni I was the last one to leave and everyone had left so much stuff! Lunch boxes full of cutlery and piles of plates. They obviously didn't want it so left it but we had to get rid of it so we didn't get fined for leaving rubbish.

toomuchtooold · 12/08/2015 17:22

Aw, no you have to do it if she's excited!

I still have a glass from my leaving home collection. And most of our sheets and duvet covers still date from when DH and I moved in together during our PhDs and about a month later an Ikea opened near us. I might have thought a bit harder about what I all bought if I'd known we'd still be using it 15 years later Grin

Mehitabel6 · 12/08/2015 17:24

People are very odd about charity shops!

I gave DSs some of our old stuff and bought new for us. Much the best solution.

SqueezyCheeseWeasel · 12/08/2015 17:24

Ds2 still has most of his too (graduated this year).

googoodolly · 12/08/2015 17:26

I still have all my university crockery! Okay, I only graduated four years ago but when I moved in with DP last summer I brought it all with me - crockery, plates, a toaster and all my plates two of which DP has since smashed.

It was cheap and from Matalan but it's lasted! Don't punish your DD just because your DS didn't look after his stuff.

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 12/08/2015 17:27

Mine came away with most of their stuff which they have now taken to their next place. They took a fair bit of our old stuff and we treated ourselves to new!!

My son got in touch with his "flatmates" before Uni (I am not sure how, but think it was something to do with FB) and it was agreed who would supply what so they did not end up with ten toasters etc!

shovetheholly · 12/08/2015 17:27

For kitchen stuff, I got a load of hand-me-downs and they were brilliant! I think it also gave my entire family an excuse to buy shiny new stuff that they actually wanted for themselves! I still have a couple of the things, but most of them went AWOL or got broken.

I think new bedding is a good idea, though. It needs to be washable, preferably at quite a high temperature!

spanieleyes · 12/08/2015 17:28

My son takes one pan, one plate, one bowl a glass and a pasta strainer with him! He seems to manage fine Confused

Werksallhourz · 12/08/2015 17:29

The prices on crockery at the charity shops round me are higher than the basic ikea range, usually because someone will have donated an old set of Denby their grandmother used to own and the charity wants a fair price for it.

So I am not too sure charity shops are the best idea for cheap crockery. I've even see utensils and the such like cheaper in somewhere like home bargains than at a car boot sale.

mumeeee · 12/08/2015 17:30

DD3 actually brought home more than she took last year. She was the last one to leave the flat and a couple of others had left stuff as they couldn't be bothered to take it home. Also as she was the 3rd one of our DDs to go to uni. We learnt that you don't need to take a lot of stuff. Everyone just shares. We bought a few extra bits when we had taken her up and saw what the others had bought. Her flatemates did the same.

roundandroundthehouses · 12/08/2015 17:34

I'd been intending to send mine off (in 2 years) with the crockery from home and buying new things for ourselves Blush.

roundandroundthehouses · 12/08/2015 17:36

We still have a plate that dh had at uni 25 years ago. I think he got it at the Reject Shop. And a crested college plate and port decanter that he stole from the graduation dinner

Artandco · 12/08/2015 17:38

I would mainly do bits rounded up from in house. Most people have random bowls/ cup an Easter egg came in 10 years ago/ plate they won from coco pops.

Original poster
TinklyLittleLaugh · 12/08/2015 18:09

I actually don't have any nasty kitchen stuff to fob DD off with as I had a big de clutter a couple of years ago and use fairly naice stuff day to day.

And nobody needs be concerned about DD feeling shortchanged compared to DS, she will certainly make her views known if she is at all botheredGrin. I will try and persuade her down the environmentally friendly charity shop route, but I shan't try and save the world at the expense of DD's self esteem, A few quid in compensatory drinking money would probably swing the deal

OP posts:
whois · 12/08/2015 18:20

Oh it's not your DDs fault her brother was shit at looking after his stuff! Go and do the exciting idea trip with her with a smile.

Mum have me a set of pans when I went to uni and they are still going strong 10 years and probably 5 house moves later.

whois · 12/08/2015 18:22

I'd been intending to send mine off (in 2 years) with the crockery from home and buying new things for ourselves blush.

Ha ha yeah that's what mum did with the pans!

She also got all new plates and bowls etc but she didn't give me those till after uni. They are still the ones I have in use!

cocobean2805 · 12/08/2015 18:42

Charity shop mooching was one of my favourite things to do whilst at uni. Think most of my 3rd year crockery came from the British heart foundation. It's nice to go with some new bits, depends on what kind of accommodation your DD will be in. I've still got loads of stuff from uni, and buy cups from charity shops at DH is a clumsy sod and breaks on average one or two a week.

chocolatemademefat · 12/08/2015 19:01

My eldest son graduated last year after four years and four ikea trips. He would look at me blankly when I asked where his stuff was at the end of each year. As it got close to him coming home for the summer he would bin cutlery and crockery after he'd used it instead of washing up.
He never produced bed clothes either despite going away with at least three sets.
Having seen the flats he lived in I wouldn't have wanted them back.
He's now working away and has his own flat and is fastidious about his things. He claims his annual ikea trips were part of the uni experience. And a good chance to eat his own weight in meatballs.