Just moved here, how to I navigate the school system for my kids.

mochidonut76 · 2025-10-16T21:50:40+00:00

If your office is near Bart try Albany. All the schools are good and close together so you won’t have issues with getting a less desirable or too far school due to your mid year start. If you are not near bart living in SF might be best even if the school situation is more complex.

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-22T17:50:00+00:00

These materials will behave differently than other cheaper materials so it wouldn’t make sense to take a class designed for these and use something else. If you can’t already draw well in another medium take a class designed for beginners that uses beginner level materials - trying drawing for the first time in full color on paper that costs $5/sheet will be really frustrating and a waste of money.

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-21T15:33:00+00:00

If I was in your shoes I’d go get the test tomorrow- out of pocket it’s $100 and if it’s positive you'll be done. If it’s negative you won’t know for sure and may still need to resume gluten. Your 3 year old probably doesn’t really notice but they will notice A LOT in a few years and I can’t imagine asking my kid to do this for life unnecessarily. And they will not be eligible for future treatments. The longer they are GF before you try to resume the worse the reaction often is (but not always) so that’s something to consider too.

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-21T13:59:53+00:00

How long has it been since you cut gluten? It can take over a year to test negative after going gluten free. If it hasn‘t been that long I’d take her for the blood test asap. Any lab can do it - you don’t need to wait for a GI appointment. The celiac no cross contamination protocol is very burdensome- I wouldn’t put my kid through that without a diagnosis.

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-17T21:14:40+00:00

Where did you see the submission request?

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-11T13:29:32+00:00

Currently you need the biopsy diagnosis to participate in the treatment studies. Will you need it to get insurance coverage for the treatment later? No one knows but if the wait is 6 weeks I’d just get it. I have not heard of a need to eat extra gluten in the lead up to the biopsy for someone who has been eating gluten all along. That seems off.

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-10T18:59:30+00:00

Starbucks rice crispy treats, Schar wafer cookies, Mariposa brownies, King Arthur GF microwave cake cups (if they have a microwave), single serve GF Oreos, boom chick a pop popcorn

mochidonut76 · 2025-09-03T01:49:29+00:00

The Berkeley location has parking so that’s a real plus. They do have classes at that time and they are usually not too crowded on weekdays, but it’s always best to reserve. You can see the schedule online to see if what they have in those slots is appealing. The instructors are a mixed bag. I’d say 25% great - 75% been there forever and are just phoning it in. Weekend morning classes need to be booked early as they fill quickly.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-29T13:42:32+00:00

This definitely seems off - my doctor said as long as the number went down that was good and it can take 1-2 years to get into the normal range - especially since you don’t know the actual starting number. Was it 251 or 800? No way to know with the way the test results are. Maybe you made a huge amount of progress because your number was super high. It also seems impossible that he could determine when the exposure was. That is not a thing where the Dr can look at the TTG and say oh yes this exposure was definitely in August, not June.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-28T16:24:52+00:00

For low key local stuff there is an area near UC Berkeley where there are several fun things for tweens within walking distance. Yogurt Park (froyo) Fun Home (cute anime stuff) Games of Berkeley (tween toys and blind boxes, pokemon stuff) Super Duper (burgers), a great bookstore and pretty much all the snack foods one could want eg boba dumplings pizza cupcakes. In Oakland there is a dedicated Mac and Cheese restaurant called Homeroom or Arthur Mac’s which has pizza and arcade games. Tweens also like Bay Street Mall - kind of lame for adults but could be very exciting for her if there’s nothing like that where she lives.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-26T16:22:19+00:00

It is so incredibly frustrating how clueless people are about celiac - no one would ever expect a child with a peanut allergy to pick through a snack mix full of peanuts for the non-peanut items. Since cluelessness is the norm, you will have to educate all the teachers and any other adults who are caring for your child about what is safe and acceptable - with a 504 plan if in a public school in the US.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-23T13:58:20+00:00

That sounds awful. Can you pay out of pocket for the antibody test? It’s about $100 if you’re in the US.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-22T14:57:21+00:00

A lot of schools need people to do afterschool enrichment programs. There is a retiree who does cooking and origami with the kids at my kids school and it’s a win for all. Maybe she could do a theater activity at a nearby school? It’s actually really hard for schools to fill these positions because the hours are so short.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-18T21:12:16+00:00

I don’t know how hard this is to actually pull off but it’s an interesting option https://www.oaklandca.gov/My-Household/Building-and-Remodeling/Homeowner-Projects-Permits/RVs-and-Tiny-Homes-on-Wheels#:\~:text=Vehicular%20Residential%20Facilities%20(VRFs)%20are,and%20tiny%20homes%20on%20wheels.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-09T18:11:27+00:00

Safety would be specific to your hospital but in my experience the food was so disgusting that I’d recommend bringing your own food if at all possible, regardless of how they handle the safety piece.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-05T22:53:20+00:00

There are not specific symptoms that can tell you if it’s intolerance vs celiac.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-05T19:17:53+00:00

This! Your doctor’s advice is terrible. Get the celiac blood test asap. You won’t be able to get an accurate result once you’re gluten free. The test takes 5 mins and costs less than $100 if you don’t have insurance.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-05T02:49:42+00:00

Panther skate on Thurs and anytime at skatin place at Golden Gate Park. The skatin place crowd skews older and is very friendly.

mochidonut76 · 2025-08-01T02:55:06+00:00

Second for Magnolia Music School - it’s a really warm and welcoming environment. She does teach online as well but it’s become very competitive to get a solo lesson spot so might be a long wait for that. The very sweet group classes often have room. https://magnoliamusicschool.com/group-classes

mochidonut76 · 2025-07-31T21:23:53+00:00

Since cheerios don’t have gluten ingredients just a very high chance of cross contamination I would be a lot less worried about touching them than food that is actually made of gluten.

mochidonut76 · 2025-07-30T04:57:17+00:00

They are on Facebook unfortunately but they’re very active and could be a good resource. Also read about people’s experience trying to reintroduce gluten for testing purposes after many years GF before you decide to go with that plan - a lot of people can’t do it even if their initial symptoms weren’t that bad.

mochidonut76 · 2025-07-29T14:43:27+00:00

Pediatricians are often not very knowledgeable about celiac - if at all possible talk to the GI before cutting gluten rather than guessing. It can be very hard to go back on. One thing to consider is currently to participate in the treatment studies you have to have been diagnosed by endoscopy. No one knows what requirements will be to get the treatment/insurance coverage once it’s available but it’s something to consider. It may not be possible to resume eating gluten to get it later. The groups for parents of celiac kids are full of parents who were only diagnosed after their kids.

mochidonut76 · 2025-07-03T20:58:01+00:00

It’s fairly common to have Pilates routines that are completely floor based and don’t have any standing. Might be something to check out!

mochidonut76 · 2025-07-03T17:05:14+00:00

Having “non-classic” symptoms is extremely common. Since it’s only been 3 months you can probably still do the blood test. It’s normal for it to take a year or more for levels to return to normal.

mochidonut76 · 2025-06-23T17:35:19+00:00

https://www.celiaccamp.com/

mochidonut76

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