Preparing for uni... Why the mega shopping trips??

[Blushah]

I must be missing something, here!

All over FB there are mums people dashing from shop to shop to shop, maxing out credit cards; madly adding to their 'must-have' lists and stressing about what they've forgotten for DC's uni.

Now, of course there's stuff that will need to be bought, but don't most people have a spare pillow? Duvet? Towels? Duvet cover? Bedside light? Crockery? Cutlery? Tin opener? Sharp knife and chopping board? Doesn't their DC already own clothing? Tech?

One person (helpfully) posted that a shop had a reduced saucepan set- she bought two, one for this year, one for next.....'when she goes into a shared house'...

Or is it just me?

Forensically involved?

It’s handy having so much extra stuff as they can sell it for drugs....

Reminds me of the “hospital bag” nonsense.... wipe warmers anyone?

Who bought 2 identical saucepan sets for their child?

I don’t know think you’re getting it op. It doesn’t matter whether it’s ‘familiar stuff’ or ‘all new’. Most people I know will have a mix of the two. Some stuff from the kitchen cupboards, but a lot of stuff will have to be new. I don’t have a fourth tin opener to give to Ds3! (Sorry if I sound upset again

But then our parents were far less forensically involved in our higher education!

Indeed - I'm much the same generation (started v young - at 17 - in 1978) and my parents drove me with my stuff the week before Freshers, and that was about it. Not even a big food shop. We survived.

Buying DC [lots of stuff] is comforting

I wouldn't comfort me. I acknowledge others can have their own opinions. It would still feel like an uncomfortably pointless wrong waste of money to me, if could easily be avoided. Isn't it great we're all different? I don't care about the all new shops. I do share OP's slightly confusion about it, though.

I don't see what's wrong with buying them new stuff. Going to uni is a big change and it's nice to send them off with their own kit. Each to their own, it doesn't effect you in the slightest

University in 1972 so sorry Blushah you don’t win! Duvets had just become a “thing” but we had to buy a kit which comprised a big box of feathers and a casing which we stuffed by hand & then sewed up the end! Was finding feathers in my room for months afterwards! I still have the cover somewhere, though only use it for covering furniture when painting etc.

I'm with you ragged. DD going back for year 2 and nothing would bring me less comfort than a massive shop - one of the only new items we bought for her last year ( a really nice picnicky type cup and plate, in a sale, very distinctive pattern so it wouldn't be taken) disappeared from shared kitchen in week 2 never to be seen again. We were both gutted.

The child is unlikely to have a car in their university town so it's easier for them to get stuff while at home and transport it up to their university lodgings.

My family set up is a bit weird so I have younger brothers' who are around the same age as my eldest nieces and nephews. As my younger brothers' parents are dead when they went to uni they were given the decent spares or brought things by my siblings and their partners. This meant when my siblings whose children are a few years younger went to uni their parents had no spares, so again it was a case of extended family offering spares or buying new.

Also having been to uni and dropped some younger family members off, the stores at the university towns are packed on Freshers drop off day and frequently don't have things in stock.

I don't understand people buying stuff for their adult child's second year though. If the adult child trashes the item then it's up to them to replace it themselves particularly as the child may decide they prefer a different style from what they had in the first year.

My mum sent me off to uni with some Wilkos utensils, a six pack of coke and a couple of tins of Heinz ravioli, bless her 😂

Personally, I’m happy with any excuse for a trip to Ikea.

We sent each of them (so far) with basics like new duvet and sheets plus a few kitchen bits from Ikea plus bits we could spare (knives and forks, a small pan, etc). They always end up buying bits or sharing with mates. Dd cost more as she “needed” matching stuff with a colour theme and fairy lights. Still well under a couple of hundred each tbh. Primark is my friend!
It was nice shopping time for us tbh.
I can see why it would be easy to go mad kitting them out and I might be tempted if I could afford it...

My DD went to university with a suitcase of clothes, on the train, by herself. She bought household stuff when she arrived. They have shops there, and she got to make all her own choices.

The thermos cup that came with the cup and plate (matching ) survived and was the most useful item she took in her first year, going to most lectures. £1.99 as I remember.

I don't see the problem in buying new stuff for dd. We bought cheaper end kitchen utensils and therefore couldn't care less if they go walkabout.
I also stocked up on all the basics for her from the supermarket. She didn't have a car so it just made her initial time at uni a little bit easier.

My kitchen is tiny. I don't have spares. DD's only bought a few things. Don't have spare duvets and her bed is a different size to her home one so needs separate bedding. Don't think she would appreciate her brothers football duvets.

And you can never go wrong with blue ikea bags!

I've spent less than £100.

I bought ds quite a lot of stuff for his first year at uni. There was lots I couldn't help him with, but I could buy him a grater --which he never used!-
I certainly wouldn't spend money I couldn't afford though.
When I went to university back in midst of time I bought a remnant of cotton for a sheet, it never really did fit the bed. Things are so much cheaper aren't they? I remember buying a cheap t-shirt from an army surplus shop 30 years ago it was £5

Aww, I have such happy memories of getting ready for uni with my mum. Choosing duvet, kitchen stuff etc. I think we both enjoyed it a lot. I don’t think any credit cards were maxed. I didn’t have anything fancy, but was really nice choosing my own things with her.

Mists! Ffs

Blushah - I have seen the same group. DS went with old from home and I replaced with new for home.

Got a few replacement bits in yr 2 and nothing in yr 3. Nothing made it home!

All over Facebook? Or just on WIWIKAU?

DH and I are still using the homeware we got when we started a home together 20 years ago. The only time we have bought replacements is if something fell apart.

Having said that, I am not doing the marathon shop that many parents seem to be doing. I started buying a couple of bits & pieces each week as soon as DS1 knew he was going to university (unconditional offer as insurance). I bought things that would be useful in any type of accommodation: extension lead, over-door hooks, mugs etc.

He

My friend spent a grand on both of hers apparently so I was forewarned and DD got kitchen bits in her stocking last Christmas. She’s taken some of the cutlery and we now keep running out of knives now she’s left.

What I didn’t see coming was the need for a bloody expensive laptop so actually am not doing much better than above mentioned friend.

I've seen it suggested before now that you send the DC with their old duvet sets so they take a bit of 'home' with them. And send them with your old kitchen equipment (so it doesn't matter if it gets stolen or broken) and you get the new repalcements.

You sound very sneery OP and desperate to appear cooler than other parents.

Thick on the other hand, doesn’t sound at all ‘upset’

We don't have spares of things here, so DD is taking mostly new. No mad panic or massive shop though, just odd bits picked up here and there, with some stuff given as birthday presents. We're talking The Range and Asda, not John Lewis. DD is excited and has contributed herself.