Tonight you went to bed asking if people were poorly because they’d been bad. If somehow you’d made things worse by washing your hands for 18 seconds instead of 20. I told you no, it wasn’t that. You asked when would people start smiling back at you in Tesco’s like they used to do. You said you were going to really miss your school friends, and that you wanted to be able to have play dates again and hug them. Those I couldn’t give you an absolute answer to. Things no 5 year old should be worrying about.
Yet here we are.
As a 40 year old woman, I’m struggling to get my head around how much we’ve taken for granted, how different things are going to be for the foreseeable future, so heaven knows how heavy your brain must feel trying to process everything.
Our actions are viewed by everybody. The way we treat others, how we behave… all on show.
My darling, inquisitive girl. I truly hope that one day we can look back on this as that exciting time we had our learning adventure at home. The time that things changed for the better, and people realised the importance of helping others. The time that we saw communities come together to look after each other without greed or selfishness. The time you managed to turn people’s frowns upside down and they started to smile back at you again. The time we all pulled together to beat this.
To whoever is reading this: Next time you’re taking the last 3 tins off the shelf in the supermarket, or arguing with other people over toilet roll, please just stop and think. Think about who’s watching. We’re all scared. All worried about what’s going to happen. Our actions today are going to have a long lasting effect on our children. And behaviour breeds behaviour. Do we really want our children growing up thinking it’s normal to be selfish? That it’s ok to leave others with nothing, just so we have more than enough? That one person is more important than the next?
Tonight my daughter is sleeping but I know tomorrow the questions will start all over again. The worry in her eyes, the sadness in her voice as she quietly asks if any of it is her fault.
It’s not fair. And it needs to stop.
“Be Kind” has been splashed all over the media lately, but seriously… do it. It doesn’t take much, and an act of humility and generosity – no matter how small – will impact immensely on our children and WILL make things better for somebody else.
Community spirit isn’t dead. It’s just scared. So let’s be scared together, and work together.