Morning! This week’s email is a bit different as it’s all about what to take to uni, should your son or daughter be heading off this September. I have been writing this list every year since 2017 and as Toby is heading back for his final year, it might be my last too. I am sorry if you were expecting my usual edit but I promise it’s business as usual again next week!
Historically, I always thought that by the time our children went to uni, they’d be all grown and self sufficient. To a certain extent, of course, that is true, but I found leaving our eldest at just 18, in a strange flat with people he didn’t know, in a town that was new to him, REALLY hard! We drove home and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had left something vital, behind! (him haha)
We have 3 boys and two of them are through and out the other side having graduated.
They both survived and FLOURISHED and made friends for life. Not immediately, but eventually.
Toby, our youngest is heading in to his final year at Bournemouth, so he’s got a house share with his friends this year. But I STILL refer to this list as I can’t ever remember what is what so I really hope, that if you are the proud owner of a Fresher or beyond, that this is handy for you too.
First things first before you trek off to Dunelm or the big Tescos or wherever you are planning on going, check around online for student discounts. It’s definitley worth signing up to STUDENT BEANS linked here for discounts on SO many brands such as Dunelm, WHSmith, GymShark, Asos, JD Sports and loads more. They can download the App to unlock the discounts. There are always Uni based offers running - Dunelm’s Student Beans one expires the first week of October, so be aware and look around for the best deals as you will potentially be spending a fair bit, so every little helps!
Make a dentist appointment, and ring the doctor to make sure their immunisations are up to date particularly their meningitis jabs.
I must admit, last time, the shopping all felt a bit last minute. Not that that mattered really- as long as you have a car full of stuff for moving in day, it doesn’t matter if you bought it the month before, or the day before.
I thought that I’d write you a list of essentials for a first year student, off to Freshers and to stay in Halls. It won’t have everything on it, as clothes are fairly obvious. Just remember the season will change while they are there and if they are travelling home under their own steam at some point, a coat is vital even if it’s boiling on moving day and they wouldn’t be seen dead in one any other time. One of ours found this out the hard way after shivering on the station platform for an hour in the rain and dark after missing his connection at Woking.
Consider what to take the clothes in? A suitcase? A big squishy bag like the huge ones you by for a few quid in markets? Will you be taking the suitcase home? Will your son or daughter be travelling back home for visits on a train? Dragging a massive suitcase across the country on a train isn’t any fun, so if they are planning on popping home, I’d leave them with a carry on size suitcase and a back pack.
Take the huge suitcase home with you, or ditch the holiday suitcase altogether and just use squishy storage bags. The car will probably be quite loaded and suitcases don’t squish very well.
Don’t splash out on posh stuff. Most of it won’t make it through till Year 2 anyway! If it comes back home, think of it as a bonus (or as a load of toxic kit that needs to be approached with caution and fumigated)
Some Halls will often supply stuff like kettles and toasters and a microwave, so definitely check that with the uni.
Some supply a desk lamp, pin board, waste paper basket and, if your son or daughter is in a room with an ensuite, they might supply a loo brush too. So it’s always worth going back to the info to see just what’s included.
Once they have secured a room, they can find the flatmates. The chat might be fairly quiet to start with but in the days leading up to moving in it’s handy for the kids to all be able to contact each other.
In our case previously, they’d sort of discussed what they were all bringing, between them. (I had visions of 6 kettles and 6 toasters arriving like a badly planned wedding list) But they decided between them to have a kitty and all go to Morrisons and buy that sort of stuff between them. We bought a £5 kettle in Tesco and took it with us mainly so I could make an emergency cuppa when we got there – necessities.
Most flats in halls need a couple of kettles and toasters for the 6/8 or more flat mates.
So I will start with the room. This one was what we referred to as The Hobbit Room. It was TINY . There was a bright orange street lamp right outside that flickered and kept Jake awake, So I bought a square of blackout fabric and cut it to the exact size of the window, & some velcro – the stuff you can get that’s half stick (stuck that to the window frame) and half sew, that I sewed to the blackout fabric. Sorted. He was then able to velcro himself a pitch black room and a good night’s sleep. (Or could happily sleep all day. Students, you know)
Check the size of the bed when you are booking a room! (Sounds obvious but we inadvertently booked a ‘basic’ room for Jake – which was code for a RIDICULOUSLY small bed – not even a single, poor chap, he’s 6ft3! See pic
Mattress toppers are a good plan – you don’t need to necessarily bring it with you on moving day, but if the mattress isn’t very nice/comfy, you can always order one online and have it delivered it to their address (the ‘deliver to a different address’ option) We did this for Toby after he realised he could ‘feel every spring’ and it revolutionised his bed and sleep.
THE MAIN LIST
Duvet 10.5 tog
2 x pillows
Bed linen – duvet cover, pillow cases and a sheet.
They’ll need two sets. (One on the bed until Christmas, and one in the cupboard to be left in the cupboard…apparently. Groan)
A big squishy cushion or two, to tart up the bed. Jake thought a cushion was a ridiculous idea, but he used it all the time, mainly to prop himself up whilst playing Ps2 games on his TV… THIS ONE IS EXCELLENT
TV – even if you don’t take one, they still need to buy a licence to watch stuff on their laptop unless they don’t watch live TV. It’s such a swizz – all of them in one flat needing a licence yet when they move out of halls they only need one between them in a house. Rules may have changed so either way I’d investigate or at least have it on your radar.
Fleece throw – depends on when the Halls put the heating on of course, but might be handy.
We took Jake’s rug from his room at home as the floor was laminate. It made it lovely and cosy but it’s not vital. Would be good to cover up a gross carpet though)
A desk/bedside lamp. (some unis provide them so check)
EXTENSION LEAD – so handy. THIS ONE is brilliant bc it has USB points too
A bin – Recommend plastic one as it doubles up as handy receptacle after a heavy night out. BLEURGHHH
Pop up laundry bin – vital! just a cheap one from Primark will do.
Laundry basket.. debatable and depends on space.
Bath mat x2 (ensuite rooms)
Hanging soap caddy thing
Loo rolls
Loo brush but check as sometimes they are supplied
Towels – 2 bath sheets and 2 hand towels
Soap, shampoo, toiletries to start them off (hairdyer, tongs etc etc)
Non ensuite rooms – flip flops/sliders for the shower
Some rooms have wardrobes, some have underbed storage – if you know there will be a wardrobe, I’d really recommend a wardrobe caddy for all the folded stuff as it stores loads and frees up valuable space.
Don’t forget coat hangers.
They may not have anywhere to dry their bath towels so I’d definitely recommend an over the door hook.
If there’s a radiator, an over radiator airer is an idea.
The big, collapsible airier we bought, came back home, unopened. Yet it was the item that I had read was the most vital item. So I’ll leave that with you to decide!
The older two also reported that the laundry (drying) was really expensive in halls, and a bit of a faff – so I bought THIS excellent drying pod . I wish I had thought of it for Jake when he was living in what we called The Crap Flat in his final year, which was so damp and had nowhere to dry clothes and everything was musty. It would have been fab, and was definitely cheaper in the long run, than using the tumble driers in the halls.
Fairy lights would be a must on my list, but the boys weren’t having any of it haha!
Basic cleaning supplies like bleach and shower cleaner and a cloth or two. You might as well bring stuff like that as it’s unlikely to be on their list of priorities when they are doing their own shopping.
Don’t forget a door stop! All the doors are fire doors and shut if they aren’t wedged open, and on moving in day (& beyond) it’s MUCH more sociable to have open doors in the flat, or at least the option.
Kitchen -remember this stuff doesn’t have to be posh or new
2 mugs
2 plates large and small
2 bowls
2 glasses
Big and a small frying pans – check whether they’ll need them to be induction or not, if in doubt get induction ones as they work on everything.
Big and small saucepans – as above re induction
Cheese grater
Pyrex jug (can be used for lots of things, prepping eggs for omelettes etc)
Selection of cutlery
Cheap wooden utensils, sieve, tongs, scissors, a couple of sharp knives, cork screw, peeler, masher, egg flip.
Oven tray for chips etc
Tea towels, washing up liquid and cloths, oven mitt.
A lasagne dish for two, so they can have the other half of whatever they cook in it, the next day. Remember you can’t microwave enamel
A couple of Tupperware type boxes
Kitchen roll and bin bags
Chopping board
Other Bits –
An AIRFRYER if there is room - especially from year 2 onwards when they are possibly renting a private house and need to keep the bills down. There are pros and cons to weigh up, but it’s a brill way of cooking faster in small amounts.
Blender for smoothies and sandwich toaster
In the unlikely event that your child wanted to iron something, irons and ironing boards haven’t ever been supplied in halls the boys were in. But if your child wanted something - I’d recommend taking a travel steamer.
Cook Book – I bought THIS ONE. Jake really rated it as the recipes were really easy and required no special equipment such as scales. All the measurements are in ‘mugs’. I marked a few recipes and left silly comments on the pages, before he left, so when he flicked through, it would make him smile. Also, more likely to try a recipe. I guarantee they won’t want to take one, but it is handy so they don’t kill themselves by accidentally eating raw chicken or something.
They might prefer a recipe App – highly recommend the Tasty App – download it and have a look, it’s brilliant and how my older two learnt to cook.
Stationary – A4 printer paper, all the pens, folders, whatever you need for the course
Plastic / laminated /waterproof (beer proof) playing cards.
Sewing kit
First aid kit – especially for Freshers to combat Freshers Flu
A container full of emergency items – i.e. – £xx in cash, condoms, paracetamol, blue tack, safety pins, scissors, cellotape, lip salve, cool and soothe migraine strips, savlon, blister plasters, phone numbers on a piece of paper, spare phone charger/ battery power pack, batteries, torch, pen knife, fold up shopping bag/s, needle and cotton. At worst it’ll all come back unopened but the boys found it handy.
We bought a few extra bits, cleaning stuff wise – the room will probably be spotless, but if its not, you can have a quick whizz round.
We also took a heap of stuff like pasta and rice and some sauces – of course you can get it all there, but the roads are gridlocked on moving in day, and shopping for supplies might be very difficult, especially as your son or daughter will most probably not want you to hang around, so a loaf of bread and some peanut butter or something might be an idea. Pizza for that first supper in halls… Milk and teabags (so you can have a cuppa for the road before you leave) Basically some stuff to start them off. Most Halls are pretty near a corner shop or a decent supermarket so it really is just to see them through until they find their feet.
Alcohol. Much as you might need a gin, it’s not for you.
You’ll probably need tissues for all the crying in the car on the way home, though. I needed loads. Gav didn’t… He thinks he’s so funny. Rolls eyes.
So, there we have it – hopefully I have started you off! Wherever your child is off to, remember, there will be shops and the bank of mum and dad’s Amazon account.
I will say, that of course it’s weird and empty when they leave, but they do keep coming back 🙂 The holidays are surprisingly often and long. So any empty nesters out there, please try not to fret. I think that as long as they are happy all is good. Settling in may take a bit of time and that is hard for us at home because if they are unhappy…well, the saying is ‘you are only as happy as your unhappiest child’ and that is difficult when there are miles between you!
Depending on how your son or daughter feels, I also recommend the LIFE 360 app. It’s like Find My Friends I guess, or the snapchat map. We all have it and it is 100% NOT so I can stalk everyone. It is 100% so if I awoke in the night worrying, I could check their location and see that they were (or at least their phones were) in say, halls, or wherever. The locations soon became comfortingly familiar. It made me much less anxious. Especially when they were travelling home as their little blue dot was live and we were able to see where they were on the journey home without having to constantly message them to ask how the journey was going. Equally, they could see our location and know everyone was where they should be. We all find it hugely useful and not weird. But other kids might feel they are being tracked and I get that. Ours found it useful as it also meant any one of us could see the location of their phone if they were to lose it somewhere!
It might not be for everyone but it worked for us and helped me as their Mum, feel less anxious. (I think they humoured me haha) Make sure they have enough storage on their phone to run it. I haven’t found it drains the battery.
I must admit, while they were away I would walk past their tidy bedrooms and empty washing baskets and do a little skip haha! Equally, the wonderful excitement when they came home after a long stint was off the chart!!
Good luck to yours if they are starting, Freshers week is a baptism of fire (not for them, for us haha – the sitting at home desperately hoping they are enjoying themselves, finding their feet and making friends!)
One thing our young people are really good at is adapting! Good luck to all! Hopefully this has helped with some ideas for you.
Do add to the comments with any nuggets of advice or info as it will be so useful for everyone.
I just sent a message to the kids on Snapchat asking what their top ‘thing’ would be for starting Freshers week. Unanimous incoming messages… MONEY. So there we have it
As ever, thank you for stopping by! If you’d like to join our very supportive FaceBook group, Here is the link It is for Uni Mums and Dads and it is a private page, so do request to join and one of us will let you in. It’s a fab group of around 600 people, so between us all we have kids in many universities, so if you have a question or an SOS, it;s highly likely someone will be able to help! Even if you just need a friendly ear. It is a LOVELY place to hang out and you are VERY welcome to join us.
Love
ps… 2 down 1 to go – it goes in a flash :)
Great read Sally. Two down one to go here too. Annabel goes into second year in September. When our middle daughter was at Brighton she used to send her luggage via DHL rather than lug it across the country at holiday times. Was really reasonable so a great tip for anyone who has a child miles away xxx
Great tips! Both of ours (in later years of shared houses ) pooled with the other students to get Hello Fresh or Gousto boxes and made their evening meals into joint cooking/social events. With all the discounts and special offers it worked out quite well. Added bonus of picking up cooking skills.