Our DC are nearly all officially students now (going to university 2019/20) - seizing the moment, spending, socialising, societies and studying!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread

[Edited by MNHQ to fix the link]

I'm amazed at how much contact everyone us having with their DC. I have had just one message from DD, which only happened after a prompt from me.

I don't want to keep bugging her so I haven't messaged again.

Thanks Ragwort, as long as the number is the same I don't have to worry about his loan not being paid. It seems such poor service that I am wondering what it it that DS hasn't done/confirmed etc. He seemed to think they were sending him a welcome box of some kind.

Glad you're enjoying the peace and quiet. I am just gritting my teeth and trying to steel myself to get on with giving his room a good cleaning. I dread to think what could be living under his bed!

Don't worry Ginfordinner I only had a text from mine saying he wasn't free to talk. DD (3rd Yr) only contacts us for pick-up at end of term.

Nationwide keep the same account numbers so it all should go in smoothly. She says, whilst fretting....

I'm amazed at how much contact everyone us having with their DC. I have had just one message from DD, which only happened after a prompt from me.. That's because we are the backpacking mums on this thread!

I know it must be confusing for them having so much on line (though a good introduction to working environment) but imagine how much easier it must be to write an essay when you're not just relying on pen and paper and trying to get it right first time or rewriting pages.

@WheelDecide - plenty on here with token/no contact from DCs too so you're not alone (doubt mine will contact unless they need something, or a terse 'ok' to any questions)

Online is fine, its just the way things seem to be scattered and have to be hunted down. We don't have access to DS' blackboard (I guess thats an online thing) so don't know if things are more centralised there. I'm sure they'll get settled, its just a lot to take in at once

DD is having a text conversation with DH. She has a niggling health issue that she needs to make an appointment with the GP, so I am not feeling very relaxed right now.

I'm definitely a backpacker but am restraining myself as I know I have to let go! A couple of family whatsapp exchanges and a few messages on Saturday as mentioned before. I will get in touch in a couple of days if I don't hear from him! We said we would have a call some time this week (well, I did )

my DD didn't transfer to the student account and although she said she had to be extremely careful with her money she didn't get any debts on her card which is I think best outcome, her friends spent money on designer gear instead :/
the only advantage for her would have been a free travel (or 1/3 discount) card for cheaper tickets home , we bought it separately

@Ginfordinner @Serin @Chillywhippet @bigTillyMint
Thanks for all the well wishes.

A firm nod to all you backpackers .

I haven't made First Contact once. Dd has been the one basically vlogging her experiences on our family messenger group!

DD has been at uni two weeks now. Over the last few days she's sent photos of am early morning hill walk with friends, random ones of friends having breakfast with her and a large group of 19 (she's on a group chat of roughly this amount so assume it's this group). Really nice to see these.

She's phoned twice so far and we've had lots of updates (I'm sure this will reduce as sometimes we didn't have contact for a week when she was boarding).

Loving the backpackers

No chance of radio silence here, DS2 is firmly in the 'I need to tell you everything' camp. We've had numerous texts about how awesome everything is, which gym he's joined, what he cooked for dinner, how great his new friends are.. he's so excited. He even texted this morning to say he was up in time for induction, except I didn't get the text as I was still asleep

DS1 on the other hand, he went back (2nd yr) two weeks ago and I've had one text from him and probably won't hear from him again unless I text him.

I think what is making it so much easier for me is the fact I know the city where ds is very well,I think I'd be having kittens in my backpack if I didn't. As I said earlier I'm stunned at the contact from ds,he's barely spoken to me all summer 😂

Dh says he will be ringing once a week for a chat. He texted first to ask if it was a good time and ds rang him back as he was cooking his dinner (!!!)

Go backpackers! I did ask dd if she thought her school rucsac, a cotton cloth thing from Nepal, would survive heavy books and cycle rides but she was adamant it was going

@FrameyMcFrame that's awful for the poor girl in a flat with 7 friends!

My dd finally waking up to her responsibilities this week, for York departure Saturday. Long overdue a medication review at GPs and has ignored my reminders ALL summer. Finally rang the surgery repeat prescription line Friday and left a message, then said Sunday, "What do I do if they won't give it to me?" She is VERY lucky - I told her she had to sort it, I'd done my bit - and when she rang the pharmacy they said it was there waiting for her.

Just to confirm, I didn't ring him to check he was awake but I am itching to find out whether he made his first contact with his course. I will have to find some other random reason to contact him later (maybe the postie will have delivered something for him) and slip it in casually. Not hopeful... He was expecting Freshers to be entirely separate from the study side of things and was horrified that he was expected to be up. He did take a wristwatch with him in case his phone runs out of charge, though.

I think I'd be having kittens in my backpack if I didn't.

I don't know the city mine's at so I have actually had several litters of kittens in my backpack all summer!

Ds has 8-10 am German then a double lecture this morning. Poor boy isn't going to know what hit him 😂

I hope he got there on time!

I hope he had breakfast!

This was me earlier.

I'm resisting the urge to wear a backpack and text to find out how the lectures went

I definitely wasn’t tracking him on ‘find friends’ to make sure he left his flat in time for his first maths induction.

Definitely not

He did cut it fine though - buses are regular but could easily have been messed up.. you’d think for the first day they’d get there early

WheelDecide I will raise the backpack stakes:

Disclaimer: that’s not my dog! Apparently you’re only allowed a dog on the underground in New York if it’s contained in a bag (!) leading to some interesting photos on a Facebook page.