Leaving home and moving to uni countdown

[Claymoreiron]

Is there a thread for this? In a matter of weeks many of us will be packing our DCs off to university. I am thrilled for my DS who has worked so hard and is so excited to start university life. However, I am also dreading it in equal measure and know that emotionally this transition will be tough for me.

How is everyone?

Having had a false start last year, I was able to judge what not to bother taking. Plus it was all packed up and waiting.

We don't drive and DS is only going an hour away. So taxi because it's a bad day for trains and DH working abroad at the moment, so only 2 pairs of hands. I've not vacuum packed the duvet as I have a quite compact bag from the laundry that it goes into with bedding.

Does anyone else feel like it’s a lot of stuff!?

Definitely! We have a large car with a large boot. But unless DC brings some of it home on the train early or moves it into their new flat and not bring it home at all at the end of the year, I think it will probably be a choice between stuff or passengers by then!

I know at least one friend who sent DC by train then followed in the car because they wouldn’t fit in the car with everything.

My ds has a congenital condition which requires lifetime medication. He kept his GP surgery at home for the 4 years he was at uni, and would make his repeat prescription requests through the app but specify a pharmacy in Birmingham (his uni town) to pick them up from. On the odd occasion where he needed to see a real life dr (once or twice for eg tonsillitis I think) he presented as a temporary patient at a local practice in Brum. Not sure if it was the uni health centre or not. Anyway that worked out just fine, no dramas at all...

@Delphigirl she asked at the gp surgery dispensary today if she could get her prescriptions from the home gp and sent to the other city and they said they didn't know. Which wasn't helpful.

I fear this will be us on Sunday, I've already been looking at train times!

If she has the nhs app and she is able to get repeat prescriptions then from my DS’s experience that should work. You can set it for any pharmacy.

Sometimes GPs can refuse to prescribe outside of their area; some GP surgeries do this, it is their decision in a way, but some will be happy to, so checking with them is key. If you see your GP quite frequently, its likely better that you switch then, as it's easier for logistics, but if you don't see them at all or once or twice, a phone appointment doesn't make too much difference, but others may need more regular face-to-face appointments. That function to pick your own pharmacy can be turned off by a GP surgery, as I know mine does it from their system, so I cannot pick the pharmacy unless I ask them directly, so it does depend.

Some women aged 18 have not a clue how to change a bed or cook basic meals. Not just a boy thing!

Oh that’s interesting, I didn’t know that.

DH is driving DD and her stuff, I’m getting the train and meeting them there. Depends how big your car is I suppose.

Just to add to the health muddle, I hope you are not crossing borders between England and Scotland/Wales or NI…

Stuff expands to fill the space available…

Thankfully not.

Very true, but taking 2 big dogs as well (long story) and I’m not cuddling a suitcase for 3 hours 😅 I get 2 hrs to myself
in York, so it’s not all bad!

No way would we have managed two big dogs as well. I think everyone bar the driver would have been on the train

You can get apps like I think it was "Pharmacytogo" that deliver.

But worst case scenario is you pick up the paper prescription and snail mail it to her. I've done that.

Now that would be a good idea.

dd is taking her car, leaving tomorrow, we’re sharing the 5 hr (possibly more) journey. We thankfully have everything in her little Corsa, except the cooking stuff box and a sports bag with kit in.

DH is driving down on Sat. in a very small car and dog. I’ve booked a hotel for Friday night, thought we’d go for a nice meal the two of us, Just been told she’s arranged to meet up with a few friends and there’s a Freshers event Sat night!

DH and I are going to visit some friends on the way back up now. At least she’s getting straight into it.

You get dropped pretty quickly once there. They may keep you around long enough to buy a shop in or get them lunch but after that….

When we dropped DS last year they checked you in to the car park and said they would call you after 20 mins to move your car. It was a rush but worked out well, stops parents hanging around and makes them get on with it.

Brutal! 😳

I am not ok 😭. I have 18yo twins leaving in the next 10 days, plus an older one going back for
4th year. Am immersing myself in the practical, organisational stuff, and have also booked a couple of mini breaks for when they’ve gone. It’s not rational, I logically know it’s good for them, it’s all good really, but … man alive I already miss them so much.

That’s a lot! When you have two of them going at the same time, it’s a big change.

I’ve only the one, so our house was never really busy and noisy, but it was hard last year when she did her Foundation course. Keeping busy did help and as I now work part time, I took up golf with a friend of mine. If you told me a year or so ago I would be golfing, I’d have laughed my head off., it really is not who I am! 😂

We don’t take it seriously and have a good laugh, but I have to say, the last two weeks DD’s been back home from her summer job, I’ve missed it, so looking forward to getting back to it. Maybe it’s the way to go, fill the time with some activity. I was going to start riding again, but the golf just happened and it’s probably much cheaper!

Re prescription meds - on the NHS app you can request in the notes that the meds go on the spine, not to a specific pharmacy. Then you get a barcode on your app, you can go into any pharmacy and they can pull the prescription up for you.

I'm seeing the posts about taking so much stuff and I wondered what we are missing! We printed up a list based on the WIWIKAU lists but we still don't seem to have that much stuff. My YP's catered for so perhaps that's why.