What special gifts do you send yout DD's off to Uni with ?

[Flossiefoo]

I don't mean practical things like dried pasta or condoms ha! ha! We've bought all the essentials ... I mean poignant or special ideas. Or little thngs that would make them smile when they start to unpack and get sorted ?
I've been mentally book marking little comments like ' Ooh i need a nice diffuser, cushion ...' etc

I've also bought a cool little calendar type flip book '365 messages to a daughter'. It contains a quote and illustration for each day of the year to remind her to be confident & proud. Sounds cheesy but they're short and sweet & nice thing to glance at & know how proud we are of her.

Any other ideas ?

Is it normal to give your children gifts when going to university? That's so far removed from my experience. I didn't study in the UK though. We just went and got on with it.

I sent mine off this week with bedding, kitchen stuff and a big food shop, plus enough money to last him till the end of the month. Hung around for an hour helping him get sorted and then gave him a kiss and a hug, told him i loved him and buggered off. It never ocurred to me i had to send presents or cards, and why a door wedge?

He did phone me an hour after i'd got home to tell me I'd forgotten to pack loo roll.😆

I did a collage of photos in a poster for each of my kids. nothing fancy just something they could stick on the wall if they wanted.

My dds seemed to think fairy lights were a necessity not an extra :). My son never wanted anything but food.

I bought mine a copy of 'oh the places you'll go' by Dr Seuss.
I gave it to them the morning before we took them to uni. I just love the words....
'Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go'

I baked some cookie dough brownies for her to share with her new flatmates as an ice breaker.

Oh that's a lovely idea @cabansunset it's a great poem and perfect for the next stage in their lives.

Ds graduated last year and wasn't bothered about all the fairy lights and fancies (unlike his gf who's room looked like a fairly grotto) but his 2 favourite items that came back home is a cushion with photos of the dog and an artists drawing also of the dog!

I sent trays of brownies up at various points too and they were very well received.

I gave my dd a ring with a note mum will be there for you through all the ups and downs in your life so everyday she has a reminder I'm there for her until she looses it🤣🤣
I ordered a wee photo album of few special memories if not here by moving day I have put some photos into sweatshirts in her case.

Like photo of her first day primary with a,wee letter to open on first day of uni
.
A few old Xmas photos to open envelope when putting up tree in her uni accommodation she loves Xmas.

Dd would absolutely hate anything soppy. She's organised most stuff herself and we did an Ikea trip. I am putting together a little "surprise" box though. Fairy lights, first aid kit, hot water bottle, vitamins, paracetamol, jelly beans, air tag for her keys.

Cash and cider

My mum sent me off to uni with a petrol credit card and all the necessities.
I did the same for my daughter. Lol she cried.

When my son bought a new house over 200 miles away from us in a town he only knew 1 person he took a large comfy chair he had sat in at home and a big snuggly fleece. After about four mo ths I asked him if he felt it was home yet. He said it was home straightaway as he had his own large chair and snuggle blanket.

It was September 2020, so a few boxes of covid tests, masks, cold/flu medication, SATs monitor and a thermometer!

Needlessly so it happened. She was the only one us who still managed to avoid it, despite being the one socialising with random people!

Other things were helping her choose nice stuff to personalise her room: candles (check they're allowed), fairy lights, photo graphs and printed out lots of photos of friends/family, plenty of drinks (dh thought it would help with the meeting new people ice breakers), simple 'party; type card/board games and more. She also had a simple photo and on the back a good luck type message from em and dh to hide in her top drawer.

My sister sent her a box to arrive at her flat a week or two later with face masks, toiletries, chocolate, etc.

My parents and pils sent her vouchers such as Just Eat, Costa, etc. one set bought her a toaster maker and the other a coffee machine too.

My brother sent her alcohol and chocolate.

BIL sent her some 'drinking' money :)

DS2 a few years ago as a present for DS1 got a box photo frame, stuck a condom in middle of it and wrote ‘in case of miracle break glass’

When DSis went to uni I made her a gift box that had; earplugs, a just eat voucher, warm blanket, photos of us/family/funny memes. chocolate and a spotify code to a playlist I made of our favourite songs!

Snort! 😂

oh this is a nice idea. DNiece is off later this month and my SIL has asked me to come with them as she's freaked out about driving into London (I'm not really en-route but I've said ok!) so I may have to bring some goodies for her. She loves her treats so I think a big pack of fancy biscuits and a rainbow mug I meant to give her last time I saw her.

Neither DC would have found anything put under the bed by me in secret. Or maybe when emptying their room a year later?

DD has been overseas for a gap year and is being fairly sensible planning what she wants/needs to take. She has no interest in fairy lights either as far as I know; and about half the "maybe useful" stuff we've discussed she's concluded is "wait and see" depending on how much space she has in her room. I've been happy to help get the things she's after, though she knows after this she'll usually be expected to get what she wants for herself.

The major thing still to be decided, is that her laptop really needs replacing (had it 6 years). DH returns from a conference on the weekend and we'll be talking it through I think. That'll be plenty!

My parents sent me off with a recipes journal in which they had handwritten the recipes for some of my favourite meals. I still use it to this day 10 years later and have almost filled it in now with new recipes I’ve found along the way!

Enough money to survive the term, supplemented with their earnings from work.

Pretty sure no young women I know would be pretty chuffed with any of that.

The special gift of intelligence and enough common sense to not waste her time with any of this twee competitive people-pleasing wifework nonsense and just enjoy herself instead.

Indeed!

The ability to budget and cook herself decent meals. You'd think this was standard, but the majority of students in her halls couldn't even boil an egg.