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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

What are your DCs packing for college/uni

98 replies

KatyMac · 30/08/2014 21:30

So far we have.....

Bedding
Towels (& tea towels)
Bedside light
bin
Torch
some small cooking bits(the kitchen is equipped)
Bucket with a lid for soaking pink tights
Song books (I haven't bought the monologue books yet)
Notebooks
Uniform
Vanish & handwash liquid
Nail brush
Lots of food (Her BF brought a crate of fun food - small boxes of cereal, noodles, chocolate, nice tea bags etc oh & 6 tins of custard she bought about 9 months ago)
Dustpan & brush
Extension lead, chargers & surge protector

I feel I'm missing loads of stuff - but I'm not too worried about clothes, toiletries. make-up or electricals

OP posts:
Littleham · 07/09/2014 16:23

We have a small tower of stuff building up in the corner of dd's room.

How on earth are you going to cope with three & packing all their stuff Seagull? Hope the starting days are different! Are all the universities in the same area? Shock

Original poster
KatyMac · 07/09/2014 16:26

How many clothes are they taking - DD's pile seems bizarrely enormous!!

OP posts:
Notsoskinnyminny · 07/09/2014 17:23

So far she's packed 2 large suitcases forgetting she'll only have a tiny wardrobe but hasn't decided which coats/shoes/bags are going straightaway.

We filled DH's estate last year but DSS is going back on the same day even though he's had his house since August Angry It'll be a challenge as I'd forgot we binned her duvet and pillows because she'll have a 3/4 bed this year and DD thought she was being helpful and saving time by putting the covers on the new ones. I've got smaller boxes this year and I'm hoping they'll be easier to squash into gaps Hmm. I'll take whatever's deemed non-essential when I take the dog to see her in a couple of weeks Grin

Word of advice - don't leave DCs to pack large boxes, it took 2 of us to carry some of hers last year and waiting for the lift was a pain.

Original poster
KatyMac · 07/09/2014 17:27

The clothes issue is warped here - as she needs clothes (to & from college & for living) & then uniform while at college (which ideally won't be worn out on the street) so there is so bloody much of it!!!

No large boxes & no lift - DH will have to do the up & downstairs as I won't manage it (health problems, not lazy!)

OP posts:
Littleham · 07/09/2014 17:31

We have not started on clothes. Leaving that until the week before..... Just doing the other stuff.

Original poster
KatyMac · 07/09/2014 17:35

(this is that week - we go on Wednesday)

OP posts:
Littleham · 07/09/2014 19:41

Oh! That is early.... Hope it goes well for you on Wednesday.

Original poster
KatyMac · 07/09/2014 19:46

We are cheating - we move her stuff on Wed/Thurs & then come home

Then she gets the train on Saturday (as it makes me less upset) - daft aren't we?

OP posts:
badgerhead · 07/09/2014 19:47

Our dd 1 goes back into her 2nd year this year, but has got married over the summer so we have her & her dh to take to uni. They are going to be in a student studio apartment which they can add furniture to to personalise. So yesterday dh took them to Ikea & they bought what they wanted/needed. We have a 9 seat minibus & were thinking that should ok for everything but after yesterday dh has decided that we need to hire a van to take everything!. As not only is there the flat packed furniture (to make when they get there) but also dd's desk from home, 2 desk chairs on castors, a wide single sofa-bed/futon and rug, that's before the suitcases, bags, boxes & goodness knows what else they are taking with them. We are hoping that next year they will manage to get a private rented flat or house & just do a move from their student studio apartment after the 50 week lease is up rather than having to store everything for a couple of weeks before moving back into student accommodation again Hmm. Dh is driving them there on Friday, staying overnight in a B&B then coming back on Saturday, possibly with them so they can go to church for a friend's baptism, and then they will go back by train on Sunday. This is a 3.5 hour minimum trip in each direction.

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 07/09/2014 19:49

You do realise that the shared houses/halls all your DCs end up in will have about five kettles and ten toaster, etc unless they can do what mine managed to do and "meet" their hall mates on facebook before hand and agree who will bring what.

And all the clothes bedding etc will come back with that damp musty unwashed student house smell

:)

Littleham · 07/09/2014 20:06

That sounds like a lovely way to do the uni drop off KatyMac.

Amothersplace - I told my dd not to buy kettle / toaster etc until we know what is provided. So we have just got crockery / cutlery x2 / pans / that kind of thing (which can come back home if there is too much there already).

No dirty washing is allowed to return! Hmm

goinggetstough · 07/09/2014 20:35

another I wasn't able to cope with the damp mouldy smell from my DC's second year house. That year we re washed every item of clothing they possessed........... Luckily the third year house was perfect!

Good luck katymac to you and your DD.

Original poster
KatyMac · 07/09/2014 20:40

DD has a landlady so I think damp/mould will only be self-inflicted!!

Thanks Littleham & Goinggetstough - I know I am over-protective, but she is only 16 and it's a bit scary for me!!

Now we are packing sheet music - now there an unusual item Grin

OP posts:
pinkrose123 · 07/09/2014 23:03

I have lists, lots and lots of lists and have bought pretty much everything, including enough toothpaste/shower gel etc, etc. to last at least a couple of months. He has been talking on Facebook with new housemates telling them what we've got in term of kitchen stuff so they don't bring it too. I'm 99.9% sure it won't all fit in the car, so in order to avoid dissappointment (mine when I'm told the toothpaste and shower gel can't come along) myself and DS2 are going by train carrying a suitcase and one guitar, while DH and DS1 go by car with all the seats down. It's a just over two hour journey by car or train so we'll arrive at similar times (well they'll arrive slightly before us so will have done all the unloading of the car when we get there! Wink).

Mindgone · 07/09/2014 23:54

We went for a day trip to DS1's uni town today, and it's the first time I've seen it in sunshine! It looks so much nicer! We discovered that there is a Wilko 2 mins walk away, so he'll be able to pop along and get anything he's forgotten. :)

purplepenguin86 · 08/09/2014 03:55

If it's any consolation KatyMac, I'm going to uni to do a completely unrelated subject but am still taking approximately 10 pairs of dance shoes (jazz shoes, jazz trainers, tap shoes, black character shoes, tan character shoes, foot thongs, ballet flats, soft blocks, new pointe shoes, old pointe shoes), multiple leotards, tights, warm ups, jazz pants, etc, not to mention 4 books of sheet music and 2 folders of assorted sheet music. I'm only taking one psychology book...

Original poster
KatyMac · 08/09/2014 07:47

Hmm, jazz shoes, jazz trainers, tap shoes, black character shoes, foot thongs, ballet flats, soft blocks, new pointe shoes - she has all of those - plus Ballroom & Latin shoes; she doesn't have tan character shoes or old pointe shoes

That makes me feel a bit better!!

Cheeky Pinkrose - I'm worried about all the stairs for DD's new house for unloading!!

& we have a Morrisons 2 minutes walk away - (& DD is most excited by the Greggs over the road)

OP posts:
HampshireBoy · 08/09/2014 18:06

Both DSs take at least two car loads to move. What we generally do is move all their clothes, bedding, electrical stuff then take them shopping for food and household stuff - Wilkinsons is normally full of students. ;)

DS1 is normally most concerned about fitting in all of his games consoles.

It was quite fun last year to watch one of the girls at DS2's campus, her dad turned up with a transit van that was rammed, the rooms weren't a huge amount bigger than the van floor space so he took quite a bit of it home again.

Depending how far your DCs are going and how easy it is to deliver stuff they've forgotten I'd suggest they think about what they really need to take.

BackforGood · 08/09/2014 18:44

I was also going to say - have you seen the size of the rooms? and the teeny weeny little wardrobe? I do thing transit vans / two cars scenario is taking it a bit far....

thereturnofshoesy · 09/09/2014 22:32

just wanted to post and say that we dropped her off yesterday and she has settled in really well. she didn't seem to have too much stuff, although she does need a bigger wardrobe!

secretsquirrels · 10/09/2014 11:54

Well I have a growing pile.... DS on the other hand isn't remotely interested in stuff. His two priorities are a jug and a big pillow Hmm.
His cell room looks very small on the pictures, though the kitchen, shared between 8, looks big enough.
May I ask a stupid question please? I presume that you have to unpack all the boxes and suitcases and bring them home as there isn't room to store them? Then take a load of empties when they move out again? I think there will be room to slide some under bed sized boxes under the bed but that's about it?

HampshireBoy · 10/09/2014 16:34

May I ask a stupid question please? I presume that you have to unpack all the boxes and suitcases and bring them home as there isn't room to store them? Then take a load of empties when they move out again? I think there will be room to slide some under bed sized boxes under the bed but that's about it?
We generally pack most stuff in cardboard boxes, which we empty and fold up for me to take home and shove back in the attic until they move again. Saying that DS1 seems to live out of dustbin bags for clothes ;)

Sometimes there is room under beds, DS2 had a bed that was designed to lift with underbed storage last year but he filled that with all sorts of stuff.

I'm lucky(?) in that both are less than 40 miles from me so it easy to drop off things they have forgotten though.

Littleham · 10/09/2014 18:17

We have a growing pile as well (mainly created by me). My DD isn't interested in stuff either. When I asked her seriously what she couldn't live without, she said 'the toilet plunger'. Hmm

As much stuff as possible is going in soft bags that can be squashed down.

Isthiscorrect · 10/09/2014 18:39

Bit stressed here about all this. Ds is supposed to be sorting things (we are in different countries). He keeps telling me he is on it, so far he has purchased a cocktail making set, some glasses (large and small) and some support tape for his injury when running! Hmm. Luckily my friend has bought a quilt, pillows, towels, bedding, mattress topper, loo brush, throw, extra blanket. She also,purchased loads of wipes from the pound shop for cleaning. He has a 2.5kg box of sweets, a 6 pack of monster munch and a bottle of very nice rum, so,all,the essentials then.
We have only seen one picture of a room in his halls. No idea if the bed lifts up or you can get stuff underneath. I've asked him to contact them to ask these questions and also to find out if they accept deliveries. Sigh.

secretsquirrels · 10/09/2014 19:11

He has a 2.5kg box of sweets, a 6 pack of monster munch and a bottle of very nice rum Grin
Isthiscorrect I do sympathise. This sounds like fairly common 18 year old boy behaviour. We are not in another country but we are about a 5 hour drive away so no popping down with stuff he has forgotten. I am well aware that if I left the planning or packing to him he would start thinking about it the night before we left. At which point he would start asking me to help. So I am doing it all as it's less stressful to me and takes my mind off the fact that he is leaving in 2 weeks time.

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