Parents getting together a 'start off' box for Uni

dorajar

I too have been buying the bogofs and putting the extra one away for dd who is starting uni this time. We have two boxes, one for toiletries, tampax, razors, ariel etc and a small first aid kit - paracetamol, allergy relief, anti diarrhoea and plasters. The other has pasta, tinned toms, beans and cereals and a shed load of jaffa cakes - dd put those in! I am thinking biscuits are a good idea for sharing and getting to know some of the others in halls and hopefully not her staple diet.

PasturesNew

Mixing with all those new/strange types from all over the place... make sure you get some good flu powders into the box. Nobody's going to care to go shopping for your kid when they're in bed feeling rotten....

bouncydog1

PasturesNew wrote: »

Mixing with all those new/strange types from all over the place... make sure you get some good flu powders into the box. Nobody's going to care to go shopping for your kid when they're in bed feeling rotten....

DD and her mates all look out for each other and if one is ill the others will shop, pick up medicine, look in on them etc. Same when they go out - they make sure they all get home safely etc.

ultimatedingbat

I reccomend sending them with a first basic first aid kit. My Mum sent me with paracetamol, ibpruphen, box of plasters, basic antiseptic wipes and some savlon cream.

GOD SENT! That box kept me going in the first year.

Other good things to send them with: Envelopes, pack of stamps. Encourage them to send letters to relatives. I used to write to my grandparents every couple of weeks and they loved it, and I loved getting letters back as it used to cheer me up.

Food wise pasta and asda smart price sauce. any frozen meals that are on discount are great too. Try farmfoods!

As sad as it sounds I used to have Mum meals. My Mum used to cook me something nice to eat before she'd visit and freeze a few batches. Dinners for weeks!

nimbo

dorajar wrote: »

I too have been buying the bogofs and putting the extra one away for dd who is starting uni this time. We have two boxes, one for toiletries, tampax, razors, ariel etc and a small first aid kit - paracetamol, allergy relief, anti diarrhoea and plasters. The other has pasta, tinned toms, beans and cereals and a shed load of jaffa cakes - dd put those in! I am thinking biscuits are a good idea for sharing and getting to know some of the others in halls and hopefully not her staple diet.

we found the best ice breaker was a bottle of vodka.... hahahaha

~Chameleon~

shellfish_abc wrote: »

Definitely lived off those massive bags of pasta and rice as a student! Such a god send

That and value canned tomatoes, you can make it a bit more classy than your average beans on toast

Beans on (wholegrain) toast is far more nutritious than pasta & tomatoes though

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Ha Ha DS had said he didn't want a start up box as he didn't want to look "eager" but this morning he realised he would have to pay quite a lot to get going..... tea, coffee, ketchup, etc and now he wants one...:p

hplanty

I started uni 10 years ago. The one thing I would say to you all is whilst its lovely that you are setting up your offspring with so much food where are they going to put it? we got one small fridge shelf, one small freezer drawer and a small locker style cupboards to store everything in including pots, pans and utensils. This meant most of us ended up with box's of food under beds ok for tins and jars not ideal for packets and box's as we did have certain pests in our block!!
The best thing I went to uni with was a home made cake and a bottle of juice. After we had all unloaded the cars and said goodbye to parent it was a great ice breaker to knock on the doors of the girls next to me and suggest a drink and a slice of cake. Stopped everyone sitting in their rooms getting emotional. I also found taking a small tool kit (screw drivers, hammer, spanner, WD40!) really useful for bits of flat pack, squeaky fire doors and radiators that needed bleeding.

Retro_Bunny

nimbo wrote: »

we found the best ice breaker was a bottle of vodka.... hahahaha

Worked for me 15 years ago almost to the day. Found me a wife using it

Retro_Bunny

Onions. They always been cheap addition to pad meals out with. Sandwiches, pasta sauce, curries etc.
Stock cubes - enable your kids to cook! Then they can buy the cheapest stuff on offer, and turn it into something good.

I was sent with a really good wok, which I cooked everything in, from beans and soup to stir fry and Mexican. A basic stir fry of dried noodles, onion and fresh beansprouts grown on a wet kitchen roll survived me through uni!