Going to university (2019/20 academic year) - and the fledgling freshers are off!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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I can't say anything........ I forgot to remove the cardboard from under my pizza last night.

Gin I agree. Both my DC can cook, one does regularly(15), my fresher to be can but is lazy. She’s a veggie and can make a pasta sauce herself plus curry, omelette, jacket spud etc but would live off avocado on toast if she could with a variation of hummus now and again. I do think though that if you know your child can’t, you should at least show them the basics in the weeks leading up to leaving. I’ve made DD do her own washing lately. She’s alright with an iron.

DD went to boarding school so she's been doing her laundry for years, but she would not have a clue how to use an iron.

TBF this is because she's never seen us iron...

But it's funny - my parents adored cooking, but never taught us how to cook. I arrived at university with the makings of a spaghetti bol and some cereal and milk, and a slim cookbook for students, and the vague memory of making a Christmas cake in school cooking lessons.

I had no problem learning how to cook - I opened the book and followed the instructions.

Today I imagine students will google it or watch 'how to cook' on Youtube. (Which incidentally is how DH learnt to install a bathroom.)

Thanks Gin, he'll manage fine. Both have been at home all summer and managed to cook themselves lunch every day. Including basics such as cheese on toast, fried/poached eggs/omelette, sausage sandwiches, tins of curry with micro rice, DS1 does a lovely stir fried rice with tinned mackerel and spices and he and DH made lemon chicken from scratch (with lemons) and battered the chicken etc. DH has broken his hand so was mainly supervising :o

Ds will be fine cooking, doing ironing and laundry but he's never handwashed dishes in his life. He'll finally know why I at the amount of stuff he uses when he cooks.

@drsausage, exactly! My two can cook (DD can now cook well - going into final year) but anything they aren't sure about, they can look it up online.

You don't even have to be able to read to be able to cook with You tube vids!

Mind you, one of DDs housemates thought you ate potato raw when he first arrived at uni

Both of mine chose Food and Nutrition for GCSE so I guess that has helped.

@pikapikachu, DS is an expert after being a Kitchen Porter

Totally agree re; the cooking, my DS passed Food Tech GCSE but has never shown any interest or willingness to cook at home, and, to my shame, the effort of forcing him to cook a meal always seems to end in a row so it is easier to do it myself . But of course he can cook a half decent meal and he does when he is home alone & has cooked a ‘special’ meal for his girlfriend a couple of times. I think he will manage fine when he is at uni, he’ll just have to get on with it .

DD has been out clothes shopping with a friend all day( happy to dodge that one) so I’ve been washing the new towels and bedding. Got large bath sheets in Tesco for £3 each! They’re not exactly Egyptian cotton but they’re not bad at all.
I’ve also made a pair of curtains for the first time in years and absolutely loved it. Kept my mind busy and I was thrilled that my old sewing machine hadn’t seized up!

Yes, I think the lack of 'someone else to cook for you' safety net will definitely be a motivating factor for my DD. Mind you, she's offered to cook a roast tonight so better later than never. I now just have to judge the right level of support vs interfering. With less than a week to go before she's off, it's a very fine line I'm treading at present :)

My ds can cook but has mainly done so using ingredients already at hand. Going out to buy ingredients to a budget, avoiding waste and preparing a nutritious meal is the challenge. I'm think mine will start off ok but will blow his loan in 'Spoons.

We are back! Accommodation v nice and spotless. Students with lanyards everywhere (DS hates them!)

Morrisons was rammed!

DS seems quite anxious, especially when we were greeted by 4 girls (bless them they had put HI in post its on his door and written his name in giant post its on a window they were keen to meet him!) He has since texted to say there is a boy, so he seems relieved by this.

Re cooking . DS can do not a thing (he says he will ask!). But more to the point, I was a bit taken aback by lack of fridge and cupboard space today : a gourmet would definitely struggle with one small fridge shelf! I think DS might spend a lot of time in the plethora of nearby eateries.... you couldn't even fit plates in the cupboards he had.

Yes, it is an issue with one shelf and one drawer in the freezer. No room for stocking up, more hand to mouth.

Well done Piggy glad all was well. Your poor DS with all that female attention but lovely that they welcomed him.
So , was it a golf clubs strapped to the roof ?

Glad the drop off went well @Piggywaspushed and to others doing the university run this weekend.

No golf clubs! They are standing looking sorry for themselves in the garage

My DD can cook a few meals as she's veggie and her boyfriend and her often cooked together. But a dent was made when she discovered one of her housemates has a nut allergy so she had to leave the pesto (and Nutella) at home. She will learn more Im sure.

She had one shelf in the fridge and one drawer in the freezer and 2 shelves and a drawer in a cupboard - that was a squeeze to get her dry goods and tins and all her pots, pans and plates in!

She's done her own washing for years, though I can't imagine her ironing!

That’s a good point about cupboard space. I don’t think there are any big supermarkets within walking distance at Bath so I’ve bought ds large packs of the heavier things such as pasta, rice, flour, tinned tomatoes. If necessary he can keep them in a box in his room. As he doesn’t have much on during Freshers week I’ll probably leave it up to him to do a shop at some stage to fill his time. There is a small supermarket on site if all else fails.

Very relieved to hear that allergies are taken seriously as DD2 has a mild to moderate but allergy. You can get pesto without nuts and Cadbury chocolate spread was but free last time I checked.
DD2 makes her own pesto now using pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts but might be a stretch at uni.

But not but allergy