Daughter Starting Uni?

squeaky

Bah humbug

Every digs I was ever in had an oven. You must have been in some pretty dire places not to have had one. I thought uni's had a minumum standard for outside accomodations?

nearlyrich

I've got a steadily growing stack of stuff for my daughter who's off to uni in September. When my son went last year I spent an absolute fortune in one month because I didn't know in advance what he would need to take in the way of household items etc.

In there so far an iron, a pop up laundry basket, half a 4 peice crockery set, (son has the other half). I have towels and bedding etc ready to go and I have been checking out the best place to buy pans etc if she needs them. We kept some of the utensils etc when we refurbished the kitchen so she can take some of them too.

I took my son to the supermarket and stocked him up with basics like washing powder, washing up liquid, big packs of coffee, rice, pasta etc and topped him up in January, he still has half a box of ariel ( it was a big box) must be all the washing he brought home:rolleyes:.

The best thing you can do for your almost grown up daughter ( or son) is to teach them the joy of budgeting and to tell them the truth about money ( things like the free overdraft isn't free unless you pay it off before they start charging and it's not a great idea to buy designer handbags and shoes with your student loan in week one of the term)

The other good plan is to teach them to cook from scratch and where to buy good quality but inexpensive food, in markets etc.

Don't forget the largebox of tissues for you when you drop her off, it is much much worse than leaving them for the first day at school. I wasn't prepared for that either:o

crana999

squeaky wrote:

Bah humbug

Every digs I was ever in had an oven. You must have been in some pretty dire places not to have had one. I thought uni's had a minumum standard for outside accomodations?

I don't know if they do.. I live in college-owned accommodation inside college.

They actually have a rule that you can't prepare main meals in the kitchen, only "light snacks". !!!!!! is that about?!

If you have a computer with internet access at home, and she's going to be able to have net access (doesnt sound like it from what you said, though..) a microphone is a cool idea because then you can speak online for free

What I really appreciate my parents doing is they take me shopping at the start of terms.. they usually pay for my groceries but even if she pays for them herself it's good because you can stock up on heavy things like tins so you don't have to cart them home from the supermarket..

pavlovs_dog

squeaky wrote:

Bah humbug

Every digs I was ever in had an oven. You must have been in some pretty dire places not to have had one. I thought uni's had a minumum standard for outside accomodations?

there are halls on my campus with no grill or oven, only hobs.

and in the REALLY old building there is only one kitchen between every TWO floors (each floor housing 20 students :eek: )

the uni's plan is that students who live in these halls will pay to eat in the refectory etc. the students with half a brain dont, and instead do wonderful things with toasters. apperently there's not much you CANT cook in a toaster, if you're hungry enough to try :rotfl:

squeaky

Or even a grill such as the George Foreman one Sneak in a microwave and you'd be well set.

jam

I agree with the people above, an oven is a luxury you can't rely on being provided with

Re the computer thing, she's almost 100% likely to have easy access to a computer within about 2 days of getting there. And chances are that if you can provide her with a computer (however old etc) that she'll be able to use it in her room, making contact much easier, and using the telephone systems a real possibility.

If you could tell us which uni (and which collage?) i'm sure somebody will have been there, be there or have (had) kids there, and we'll able to give more accurate advice on what to expect.

For example, my specialist subject is kent, with a bit of York thrown in

£0.02
jam

pavlovs_dog

squeaky wrote:

Or even a grill such as the George Foreman one Sneak in a microwave and you'd be well set.

georges are banned in my uni...fire hazard (as if what the people are doing with toasters in the building with no kitchen isnt a fire hazard :rotfl: ) as are chip pans, deep fat fryers and woks.

its not so much a case of them being dangerous, but because of the significant risk to human life in high rise buildings (which halls usually are), they have very sensitive fire detection systems.

to give you a few examples of the rules we've had to abide by this yr

1) shut bathroom door when having a shower (steam can trigger it)
2) not to spray deodrant/hairspray.perfume, or any other aerosol in the vaccinity of the sensor.
3) no water fights in the building (water can trigger the sensor!!!!)
4) must open window and move as far away from the sensor before using hair styling equiptment which gives off heat/steam (thats just about all of them then)
5)all kitchen windows must be opened when cooking
6) candles, incense, oil burners etc are banned

i could go on, but i dont want to bore you. the biggest irony of it all is that people are allowed to smoke in their rooms :mad: with the window open and away from the sensor of course :rolleyes:


fortunately, microwaves USULLY are provided....most of the peole in my flat would have starved if they weren't, because 99% of their meals came straight from fridge, out of packet and into the micro.

in defence of microwaves, at least you can still makes cakes in the absence of an oven.

squeaky

What a load of regs you have to put up with. Jeeze.

As for the microwave, you can cook most things in one if you follow the instruction book - which, on a bet, you don't have...?

juno

pavlovs_dog wrote:

4) must open window and move as far away from the sensor before using hair styling equiptment which gives off heat/steam (thats just about all of them then)

:eek: You're lucky! We weren't supposed to use them, but because of overloading the electricity circuit rather than because of steam.

fortunately, microwaves USULLY are provided....most of the peole in my flat would have starved if they weren't, because 99% of their meals came straight from fridge, out of packet and into the micro.

in defence of microwaves, at least you can still makes cakes in the absence of an oven.

We didn't have microwaves at the start of term, and just had a baby belling oven. Luckily, they provided us with a microwave just after Christmas.

I'd suggest buying other stuff now, and sorting out cooking equipment later, when accomodation is sorted. Then you'll know what to expect as it should say in the books you get when deciding. And if it doesn't, it's a lot easier to phone up and ask about the cooking facilities in a specific place than in general as they can vary

homealone_2

thanks for lots more gems and message to jam. she will be going to sussex university sep/oct