Not On My Watch
I've heard so many claim children are resilient; masks don't harm them, they love wearing them, and they aren't affected emotionally, etc.—
Well, I beg to differ.
Meet Riley. She is my incredibly sweet, sensitive, loving, caring, and precious daughter. See, in the past five years, Riley's been through A LOT:
She unexpectedly lost her dad, her hero. She lost her dog. Riley watched her five-month-old brother go through open-heart surgery.
She then lost her punk-punk (my dad), her second hero, also unexpectedly. She learned she was adopted and that her birth mom abandoned her. We lost the only house she knew.
She lost her great-grandfather, followed by her aunt, both of whom she had a very close relationship.
This child has seen more death and sadness in 9 short years of life than I could ever imagine experiencing at such a young age. Yet, she still loves fiercely! Her smile lights up a room. She's kind and caring and oh so affectionate. Riley also suffers from the experience of so much trauma in a short period. Sometimes she is sad, other times she cries. There are times when she doesn't understand why she's crying. Neither do I.
This is my child.
She’s beautiful.
She’s suffering from PTSD and anxiety.
She’s scared at times.
She expresses a true fear of losing me, of never seeing me again. It haunts her.
This is what anxiety in a child looks like. She NEEDS affection, smiles, and love. Staying at a distance from her friends and teachers, not seeing their faces, not being able to BREATHE— it affects MY CHILD regardless of what anyone else says. She doesn't deserve this.
I AM NOT SELFISH for caring more about my baby's mental and emotional well-being than a virus. There is a .00002% chance she'll die from Covid-19. There's a 100% chance that masking her will cause more emotional damage.
Don't believe me?
It's right here in her SCHOOLWORK.
She’s afraid of being alone.
The first things she would rid the world of are masks and hate.
Riley believes she is healthy when not mad or sad- feelings that are felt very often. It’s apparent children feel more alone and sad when they're unable to see others’ faces/smiles, unable to hug and sit close to their friends, etc.
This is why I fight. I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT for my children. I will always weigh benefit vs. risk when it comes to their medical decisions. And in this case—there’s no comparison whatsoever.
She’s healthy.
She deserves to breathe fresh air.
She WANTS to be at school with her friends.
She shouldn’t have to suffer because of it.
Where there is a risk, there MUST BE CHOICE!
Riley attended in-person school for two days before the mask mandate returned for fourteen days (that was 28 days ago, and the mandate is still in place and was recently extended.) After many discussions and prayers, I decided to withdraw Riley and her older sister and begin homeschooling both girls. I haven’t looked back or doubted my decision once. Where we are now with masks, testing, vaccines, critical race theory, gender fluidity, and shared bathrooms, etc., I don’t see myself re-enrolling them in the school system. I’m at complete peace with my decision. Every day that I wake up, it seems as though I’m in an even bigger battle for my children’s souls than the day before. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have authority over my home and children, and he can’t have them— not on my watch!
I will continue to speak out on how I feel about the mask mandates, vaccine injury, informed consent, and personal health freedom. I will continue to show up and make sure my voice is heard. If we as parents don’t do it today, we won’t have anything to fight for tomorrow, and there will be nothing left for our children. I need my children to know that their mom never quit fighting for their freedom and their rights, that she was never afraid to speak out about what she believes or stand up for what's right. I hope to instill the same values in them.
