(no subject)

[hathycol]

Once again, I am having that conversation with my mother. No, not the one about contraception (she's transferred that paranoia to my sister, which is a bit of a relief) but the one along the lines of "You know we're decorating your room while you're gone, don't you?"

I like my room. It is hideously shabby and stuffed to the brim with, amongst other things, about 150 back issues of SFX that I'm clinging on to, all the while shrieking "BUT IT WILL BE WORTH SOMETHING SOON!". I tend to hoard, you see. So, in one breath she'll tell me how she wants everything sorted out and how she wants to paint my room. In the other, she'll tell me how I utterly must come back for all the holidays and how unhappy it'll make her if I go through with my vague plan to make a run for it in July and get a house with a long contract for third and fourth year.

It makes The Packing Job a bit frustrating. I can't move all my stuff from home to university, by the logic of that there is simply too much of it. If Mum wants it all gone, then, well, I'll bag it up and put it in the attic, but if not, then I do wish she'd stop saying how she's, essentially, going to destory what little personal space at home I have left.

It's a bit tricky. I think other families could deal with this a lot easier. The problem is, though, I'm the first one to go to university and no one is quite sure how to deal with it, because we don't know the etiquette. This ends up with things like me paying my first year of fees and paying my own rent; other families don't do this (I know a girl whos parents re-mortgaged their house to pay for her to go to LSE; I am fond of repeating this story to my mother)and even tend to pay a little bit more. I know it's not as standard, I am aware of this, but in St Andrews it sometimes feels a bit like it is. But apart from etiquette like that, we're not entirely sure what is 'the norm' when it comes to stuff like, well, my stuff. Can I justifiably move out and still leave some of my stuff at home? I mean, logically, if I'm not taking it to university, then I don't need it, and really, I should just get rid of it, but some of I sort of want for when I finish uni; I mean, I don't need a DVD player at uni, but I would like one when I leave.

As you can see, therefore, packing is a confusing issue. And now I'm going to go and try to tackle it. Still, though! Four days! I'm all excited. It's quite sad, really.

~Hathy_Col~

Comments

[caloola.livejournal.com]

Aww, your tale of woe sounds so familiar! I've never really moved all my crap out as, like you, I just have too much of it, but now that I'm moving properly I'd like to take it with me. While I was in second year my younger brother decided that he wanted a pool table for Christmas and my room was suggested as a home for it. I made a lot of loud objections down the phone and thought it was sorted.

WRONG!

I got home to find my lovely double bed had been chucked out and I now had a pool table in the middle of my room - fun, but not exactly fit for sleeping on. Naturally I threw a tantrum, but to no avail as by now my bed was all damp and icky. Eventually mother bought a single bed because I couldn't sleep on the floor and the pool table currently resides in the garage. And they wonder why I have issues!

[hyrnetanga.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, my desk was taken over by the family computer the moment I left last year. This was a desk with drawers and pull out shelves and shelves stacked on top of it all crammed full of crap. It was a wonder the thing didn't colapse. I took some of it to uni of course, but i still have no idea where most of the rest of it is. Or where the shelves have vanished to, and the drawers are full of everyone else's stuff. And they wonder why half the stuff I bring home in the holidays has to live in boxes on the floor!

[sevenhelz.livejournal.com]

there is no norm. when ruth left, she took most of her stuff, and left the rest under my bed. when rob left, he took some stuff and left the rest in my room. when stephen left he took a few things but his room was pretty much intact. i'm taking my entire room apart and giving my mum complete freedom with regards to redecorating. so far she's thinking of doing something at the floor, woo.
also with regards to fees - ours were all paid by loan. i know a few people whose rents are paying their rent, but not that many. don't worry about being the skintest of skint, it may not be fun but it's honestly not just you. current estimate is £20 a week for me to live on.
xx

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

See, I come home and a lot of my stuff is missing. My little sister was not best pleased when I went and claimed back my stereo and my VCR, because 'well, yours are better!" I know they're better, because I take care of my stuff!

ARGH FAMILIES.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I know! And then I get complained at becauseI have to put some of my boxes in the spare room - where else are they meant to live, when my room now contains all of my sister's crap? (And her room contains a lot of the stuff I left behind, HMPH.)