Nerys turned to me on our walk yesterday, and told me she was a bit sad.
When I asked why she said it was because of all the things they’ve not been able to do at school this year. There’ve been no school trips. No class photos. No assemblies. She misses the days back in year 1 when the 3 classes across the year group would all have their doors open and they would all mix together throughout the school day.
She even misses going to the dinner hall to eat her lunch with everyone.
She has friends that she’s been close with since Rising 3s who are now in a different class to her, which means she’s barely seen them this year. When they were at school they would sometimes see each other at play time, but had to chat from a distance, staying in their bubble’s allocated area of the playground. And now, obviously, she doesn’t see them at all.
She seems to be coping with everything so well, and so does Rhys, that it’s easy to assume they’re fine. So I’m relieved she opened up to me about this. It meant we could talk about how rubbish it all is. How it’s ok to miss things, to feel sad about all these things everyone is missing out on.
It also meant that we could talk about how wonderfully special they’ll all feel when we’re able to do them again.
We talked about how amazing it will be when the classes can mix again at school. How special it will feel to have playdates at her friends’ houses. How exciting it’ll be when we can go to Bluestone on holiday again.
She seemed happy again by the end of the conversation, but I’m acutely aware that this isn’t the end of it. Thinking about how great things will be in the future doesn’t take away the sadness of not being able to do them now really, does it. Especially not when you’re six and you miss your friends and your teachers and your family members that you’ve not seen in a long time.
I’m not really sure what the answer is, when I can’t fix everything. I think for now the answer just needs to be hugs, and extra time reading together and watching Descendants on repeat together. And probably chocolate.
It’s so important that she’s opened up about her feelings but so so sad that she’s missing everything so much. It breaks my heart to hear my daughter talk about ‘when the germs have gone and I can see grandad’
Katrina x
It’s so sad isn’t it, they’ve missed out on so much. x
Oh this is just heartbreaking. My boys often comment that they wish corona would just disappear and how much they miss their old lives. This really is affecting every single one of us but it is really important to remember that our little ones might not always tell us how they are feeling. #livingarrows
It is so hard for the children isn’t it, especially when they don’t always have the words to express how they’re feeling about it all. x
Aww it’s so sad everything they’re missing out on! Even my two have both said independently to me how much they’re missing school and their friends 🙁 So rubbish. Sending love xx #livingarrows
You know as much as we think its hard, we can understand it all and find ways to make it a little easier. I cant imagine how hard it is for young kids, who as you say, have missed out on so much in the past year. I really hope things will start to ease soon and that things will start to get better. That school trips and school photos will happen again and that they can play with their little friends.
The other thing that I’ve not really given much thought to until now is how big a portion of their lives have now been spent in lockdown, with everything ‘wrong’, it’s crazy! x
It’s so sad when these things hit them isn’t it? Our two haven’t really ever spoken of sadness or things they’re missing, they’re very much in a little bubble. But they did get sad at Christmas when we couldn’t see anyone. It breaks my heart x
Oh bless her, it’s such a scary, lonely and odd time – it’s so nice that she was able to communicate these feelings with you and get support when she needed it. I feel so awful for children growing up in this – it’s just so alien to them and must be so confusing. My eldest sort of went selectively mute after lockdown 1.0… when we saw strangers she covered her eyes and she barely spoke to anyone outside of her bubble. Then she had a new born sister to cope with so it’s been a lot of change. x
It’s so, so much for the children to be coping with isn’t it. Hope your eldest is doing ok now. x
Always chocolate. It is so good she brought it up. Both mine are obviously on edge but don’t really want to pursue a conversation. I hope this week is kind to you all
I can definitely see the effects of missing school and friends on my two, even if they don’t talk about it very much. I just feel so sad for all the children and how much they have missed. I’m glad Nerys was able to talk to you, listening, extra cuddles and chocolate are just about all we can do at the moment I think x