The corner of Percy and Powell in the summer of COVID-19

By Maia

As I sit on my couch this summer and look out my window, these are my thoughts. I think about how I miss school, my friends and my teachers and how they would help me with my work, support me and play with me.

I also hear birds chirping more. Maybe it’s because we’re just listening more so we hear them better, when before we would be in such a hurry to get to school, work or appointments.

I find when I’m stressed out that baking helps me stress less and calms me down.

I am listening to the radio and going online more, probably because I am bored more.

It has been a very odd year, going from missing school due to strike days, then not going at all because of COVID-19.

I am now very bored and miss my friends a lot. I try to think of ways to not be bored. Some days I play with my dollhouse or just make up songs on the guitar, other times I bake. I bake cupcakes, cookies, lemon loaf. I love whipped cream, which is the best thing ever; with lemon loaf, it’s even better!

COVID-19 is a global pandemic. Lots of people are affected by it. People are sick and dying, making their families sad. It is good to know that people are trying to find a cure and a vaccine. I think we should really support and thank frontline workers a lot because they are doing lots of stuff for us. For example, waste-collection workers, grocery-store workers, health-care workers and so many others are making it possible to live through COVID-19.

There is another problem besides COVID-19: Racism. This summer my family talked a lot about BLM, Black Lives Matter.

Being racist is mean and cruel and it’s all about the colour of our skin. In Grade 4, I read the book about Viola Desmond which explained how some people were and are still being unfair, very rude and hurtful to black people. You may have heard about George Floyd, Abdirahman Abdi and Breonna Taylor. They were black people killed by the police and this makes me question why are we treating human beings this way and what I can do.

As a child, I can respect all people. For example, I can stand up for people who are being bullied because of their skin colour, cultural background and other differences.

I also had some fun going camping, had play dates with my friends, more movie nights and going to the beach more. And I got my braces and had the tooth fairy visit twice! Going back to school is very exciting because I can see my friends and my new teacher. School is also different and hard for some people.

Why am I writing this? Partly because my parents asked me to, partly because I thought it was a good idea to write down my thoughts and a good way to spend time reflecting. This summer has allowed me to think about what’s going on in the world right now like BLM, COVID-19, strike days and more. With all of these things going on, I am grateful to have a home, loved ones, friends, food and my health.

Maia lives in the Glebe and is in Grade 5 at Mutchmor Public School. Brother Bijan is in Grade 3 at Mutchmor.

Maia’s younger brother Bijan composed this poem as part of his spring Grade 2 assignment on rhyming.

 Covid is horrible

Just like Ivan the terrible

It strikes people with all its might

To defeat it everyone needs to stand up for the fight

I keep positive and light

To stand up for the fight.