Guest Blog - How COVID-19 has Affected Me and My Family by Baby Doll

I don’t get to see some of my family anymore like my sister, Princess and her family. She is pregnant and worried about her baby, so she stays home. During COVID we got a volleyball net so we could play volleyball games in our backyard since we can’t play at the church anymore. I miss playing ball at the church. 

Also, when my dad goes on work calls we have to be super quiet. That is hard for a family who is loud all the time. Our family is doing this really cool thing called Summering in SoJo and it has been really fun. Each week you watch a movie and then you do the activities and there are points. Out of more than 100 families, we are in 5^th place.

Our whole family gained a bunch of weight during the first part of COVID because we were all scared and sad and we ate lots of treats to help us feel better. My sister, Crafty, took charge and made up a sugar diet for two weeks to help us get off sugar. As a treat for those who do it the whole time, she is taking us to lunch at Chick-fil-A. Speaking of Crafty, she had to come back early from her fun mission in the Philippines that she loved. She couldn’t even bring her suitcases, just one little carry-on. She got in a van and she rode with other missionaries toward Manilla. She had to wear her mask the whole time. Then they all got on planes and came home. She has this whole story written up if you want to read it yourself  After that, she started making Filipino food for us. Our favorite is adobo. It is this chicken and sauce served over rice. 

At the beginning of COVID-19, I did dance with ZOOM. It was a little weird at first and annoying because I couldn’t see my friends and I had to dance in a small space so I could stay on the camera. Finally, we got to go back to the studio for a few weeks before our recital which we had in the parking lot on a big stage. My parents were the only ones who could come from my family and they could only stay while I was dancing. I had 6 dances, so we had to go home in between each one. It was annoying.

I’m not sure how I feel about having church at home all the time. My dad doesn’t want us to come to the church on Sundays because my mom and my grandpa are high risk. I miss my teachers and all the cool talks that people give. I miss primary and the leaders and the fun singing time. I miss my friends.

We never get to play with friends. I went over to a friend's house once, but other than that, I only hang out with family. We can’t even have girl scouts. Every time we are supposed to have a troop meeting, my mom and I help put together a cute little bag for each of the girls. That’s the same way we have Activity Days. It’s fun, but I still miss being with my friends.

Since we couldn't ride big horses as planned for Scouts, the girls received these cute little horses so they could learn to take care of them. This is Baby Doll giving Flower a drink at the dance performance. It was so hot out there!

Also, I hate online school. Because I don’t get to see my friends or my teacher and at home I can’t focus well because I just want to play on my trampoline with my brother, Curly. My mom made us sit at a school table covered with paper in the living room. Sometimes we put cute pictures in the spots where we put our chromebooks. My sister used her spot for notes and math problems, so she got mad if we wrote in her area.

Another fun thing we have been doing as a family is going to Lagoon once a week. We got season passes for Christmas and it has been interesting. You have to wear a mask most of the time except on the rides. I have been on almost all of the rides in Lagoon. It is super fun that all my family at home except Grandpa and Crafty (because she works or hangs out with her boyfriend) go together. Even Dad can arrange his schedule so he can come. 

It has been so fun to hang out as a family doing all kinds of things. We have watched movies, had cookouts, played volleyball, and done some projects we had been planning for a long time. But I still want to do pottery and a few other things. Right now I don’t have any extra activities like dance. I just stay home so we have chores and Dog Walker has been reading the Harry Potter books to us. We are in Book 7. Dog Walker’s graduation from UVU was cancelled and he was very sad, but now they are doing a crazy drive-through graduation in August. He is just excited to get his cap and gown.

We have also been getting free lunches from the school for the kids. It is always something fun to look forward to.

My sister, Teach, is gone now. She and her family moved to New Jersey the first part of July. I cried for a long time and so did Scout. It is so sad to have part of our family be far away. Our family has been using an app called Marco Polo to keep in touch and we have been video-calling. My family is really important for me. At first, Beauty and The Beast kept their family away from all of us, but now they come around. The hardest part has been not being able to get together with everyone like we always have.

Hopefully things will get back to normal soon. I just want life to be normal again.