Below is the full, unedited text of a submission detailing the experiences of one young girl and her mother struggling through the first year of the Covid era with lockdowns, daycare closure, social distancing and masking. Please contact Covid Stories Archive if you would like to use or reproduce this essay, in whole or in part, for your research or writing. Also, please consider sharing your own stories for preservation in our archive.
I’m the mom of a 5 year old girl. She was 4 when the pandemic started. I watched my child, who strangers often commented was the happiest child they had every seen, become sad, withdrawn and irritable due to covid lockdowns. After not leaving the house for two months she was a different child. We were extremely fortunate to have neighbors across the street with similarly aged kids that my daughter got to play with. I honestly believe it was their friendship and relationship that saved my daughter.
My daughter was able to go back to daycare, but in a mask and “socially distanced” from her friends. It’s better then nothing but definitely not great. Now that adults have been vaccinated she’ll be going to school in a mask that the adults around her aren’t forced to wear.
The way we have treated kids throughout this pandemic has been an abomination. I’m sure many people will forget but I never will. I will never again believe that public health experts are trustworthy.
Personally, I feel politically lost. Perviously I considered myself a democrat but after seeing how they have treated minorites Ave children I don’t think I can ever say that again. I have no trust in the government. I’ve always been skeptical bt the pandemic has taken that to an entirely new level.
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