Dear Sir,

In these hard times, I wanted to share a child’s viewpoint. We often do not think about their view of what is happening, and how hard all of this has been on them.

My son is 6 and he has found online learning very, very challenging, as have the rest of the family. On Sunday, he flung his arms around me when I told him he was going back to school, and said, “I'm sooo happy to see everyone again.”

He got up early, didn’t have to be prompted to do any part of his morning routine, and was waiting by the front door. (Who are you and what have you done with my son?)

On our normal drive in along Harbour Road and then into town, he has several “points” which he looks out for — how many ships today, the horses and goats by Manse Road, Corona the ferry, the owls by Red Hole, and, of course, the police lady by Spurling Hill, whom he says "Good morning" to every day.

On Monday, the owls had no costumes on, and the police lady wasn't there.

He went very quiet and then started crying, saying, “It’s not the same, everything has changed.”

I am a teacher, and when there is a problem, I always ask my students, “How can we fix this?”

So on Tuesday, we drove to Red Hole and he made silver capes for the owls, dressed them and made a sign that says, “Always look for the silver lining”.

The person who normally dresses them is overseas for medical treatment, so it was extra special for that person to know that what she does matters to a little boy who is willing to fill in for her.

Police lady was back in place, and his little world was restored. His favourite sanitation driver came by on Tuesday afternoon, and he was further reassured.

This is having such an impact on our little ones. Please remember to try to help them make sense of it in their own way, and also to try and reassure them and spend some quality time with them.

It’s hard enough on everyone; we must take care of the future generation to get through this.

VALERIE SMITH

Warwick