Hi. My name is C*****. I'm an 8-year-old boy living in the Ottawa area currently being quarantined in my home with my parents because of COVID-19 (the coronavirus). I am an only child.
Up until 2.5 weeks ago, I was a very active kid. I went to school full-time, I played competitive hockey, and I spent every waking minute outside when the weather was nice. I have always been a very social kid - I don't like video games, I don't like spending time on my tablet chatting with friends - I like to be outside, running around with my buddies or at a friend's house, playing hockey in their basement. I had friends over often, playing with the air hockey table in my basement, or playing hockey or basketball or catch in my front yard. I was a very happy kid with a zest for life and so much hope for my future.
But now everything is different.
Since October, I had been playing competitive hockey with my hockey buddies - we worked really hard and loved every minute of it. March was to be our final month for the season, we had a tournament scheduled and for those who were not going to play spring hockey, it would be the last time we played with them until next October. But all of a sudden, with only 3 weeks left, the rest of our season was cancelled because of the coronavirus.
We had also already started practices for my competitive spring team I was supposed to play for until May (and I feel really badly for some of my friends because it was their first year being asked to play for this team and they were really excited), but that was also cancelled because of the coronavirus.
In April, I was going to start Lacrosse for my first time ever and I was really looking forward to it, but it was cancelled because of the coronavirus.
Right when the coronavirus started, my mom and dad were getting us ready to leave for Mexico. We were supposed to go on a 7-day trip at an awesome resort. The resort we were going to has monkeys walking around, peacocks, and big, big lizards. We were going to see the pyramids and it would be all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-play, all-you-can-swim for 7 full days. But we had to cancel because of the coronavirus.
After living in my new home for 3 years, I had finally found some friends my age that I would be able to play with when the weather got nicer. But now I can't because of the coronavirus.
The other day, when it was 10 degrees, my neighbour friends next door took out their trampoline (one of my favourite things), but I couldn't go on it because of the coronavirus.
When I was playing outside with my mom (who was trying her best to be a competitor while we played soccer - but who are we kidding? Nothing compares to playing with a kid your own age!), the neighbour kids came outside, too. They started blowing bubbles and riding their bikes. I couldn't do that with them. My mom got out a kite and we started flying our kite and the kids next door were amazed but they couldn't try to fly the kite, either. I wanted to give one of them a birthday card because it was his birthday the next day, but I couldn't go close enough to him to be able to give him the card. All because of the coronavirus.
The first week we were on quarantine, my mom decided to go to the gas station to get a few things we needed and before we went in, she pulled me aside and said, "No matter what you do, don't touch anything. Don't go near anyone. And if you do accidentally touch someone, do not touch your face until we get back in the car and sanitize our hands." That scared me a little bit. I'm supposed to be a kid and now I have to walk around being afraid of something that could make me very sick but that I can't see? Well...yeah....because of the coronavirus.
I can't open the door anymore when someone rings the doorbell and I definitely can't take anything from anyone at the door (like a grocery deliver - I used to help bring in the groceries because I am strong!) because of the coronavirus.
I haven't been able to see my Nanny, who lives just down the street from me and who has an awesome little puppy, in 3 weeks even though I can see her when she leaves her home or takes her puppy for a walk. I can't see my other grandma, either, or my grandpa. I can't see my aunt or my uncle, or my cousin that I see very often....because of the coronavirus.
When one of my friends' mom drove by our house, when she stopped to chat, me and my mom had to stay on the driveway and I couldn't even barely talk to my friend....because of the coronavirus.
When I'm feeling really down, my mom or dad sometimes get me McDonalds (their egg and bacon sandwiches are my favourite), but even when I'm sad now, I can't get it....because of the coronavirus.
My mom and dad were getting ready to buy a piece of land in New Brunswick where they were going to guild a cottage - somewhere we could go in the summer months, where I might be able to make some more friends and be close to the ocean. But they had to cancel doing that....because of the coronavirus.
So what do I do instead of playing with friends at school and on weekends? Instead of going to school every day and learning to read and write and speak French and do math? Instead of playing hockey 4-5 times a week? Instead of going shopping with my allowance money and buying all the things I have been wishing for? Instead of joining my neighbour friends on their trampoline rather just watching, all alone, from my back deck while they laugh and jump? Instead of going to Flying Squirrel or the movie theater or public skating or a museum?
Well, I get up in the morning - I don't even bother getting dressed - and I play video games with my mom. Then my mom goes up to her office and works and my dad does chores. For a little bit, my mom and I do school work but it's definitely not the same - or as fun - as being at school. Then I watch some TV. Then we have supper. Then my mom tries to get me to play a game or do a craft, but I'm not interested in those things. And then I go to bed.
Sometimes my dad will take me for a drive but we can't get out of the car. Sometimes we will go for a bike ride, but if I see any of my friends, I can stop and talk but I can't go close to them which makes for a weird conversation.
When the weather is nice, we do go outside. I play basketball or catch or shoot pucks on my driveway, most of the time by myself. My mom tries to play with me (and she's not too bad at soccer) - but none of it is the same: I'm all alone, so I get bored quickly and switch my activity to try and have more fun, but it never lasts long. Usually, after about an hour or two, I just want to go inside and play with my dog.
I find myself getting tired easier. I can't sleep properly at night because I just have too much energy. I wake up in the middle of the night and sometimes it takes me a long time to get back to sleep. I'm bored a lot and the more bored I get, the less I want to do things. My mom suggests I go on my tablet and play learning games, and a lot of the time she will play with me - or try to. Every day she tries to get me to talk to my friends on Kids Messenger, but it just makes me miss them more, so I don't like doing that.
I know it's only been 3 weeks but when my mom and dad don't think I'm listening, I hear them say it could be months. Months before I go back to school, months before I get to play hockey again, months before I can have any play dates, months before I can go to the park or bring my dog to the dog park.
But I am lucky, in a sense, because I understand what is happening. I understand that there is a sickness going around that could make me sick, or make my dad sick, and it could make my mom very, very sick. I understand it, but it doesn't make it easier.
I also feel badly for the littler kids who don't understand - it must be so hard for them. And I feel really, really badly for the kids who don't have parents who like to play with them, and for kids whose parents still have to go to work, and for kids who miss out on a lot more than I have. But it doesn't make it any easier.
I also understand that this sickness is no one's fault. I understand that it's not something done to us by anyone, that this is life for now, and this is what we have to do. But that doesn't make it any easier.
What I don't, though, understand are the people who refuse to do what me and my mom and my dad have been doing for weeks now - staying home.
What I don't understand is what they mean when they say, "flattening the curve" - and I don't really care! What I do care about is keeping the people I love safe and making this sickness disappear soon so I can go back outside and see my friends, and eat bacon and egg sandwiches from McDonald's, and go back to school to finish learning to read and write and practice math and science (those are my favourite), and play hockey and lacrosse and see my grandma and grandpa and Nanny and do all the things an 8-year-old kid should be doing.
What I don't understand is why people can't put their lives on hold - like everyone else I know - just for a little while for the greater good.
So here is a message for all of you people who can't listen and stay home, or who can't stay isolated when they have been exposed to the sickness, or who can't stay away from their friends just for a little while:
I'm 8 years old. I am missing out on everything. I am stuck at home, by myself, and the longer YOU choose to be selfish, the longer it's going to take for me to be able to get back to MY normal life.
I'm 8 years old and I understand how dangerous this sickness can be - not for everyone, but for some. And for those it is dangerous for - they DIE. I understand that.
I'm 8 years old and I stay home and deal with being isolated, tired, sad, bored, and lonely.
If I can do all that - why can't you?
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