SUFFOLK, Va. — A lot of people have been trying to get their heads around the coronavirus pandemic and how handling COVID-19 has affected just about every aspect of life.
Businesses are closed. People are out of work. Those places that are open have their in-house staff scaled back with the bulk of their employees working remotely.
For elementary school students, as well as others, the closings of schools no doubt has been the biggest adjustment. That, coupled with broader stay-at-home orders issued by governors, has made life for children weird, really weird.
Eight-year-old Matthew McFarland is one of the many children hit by the strangeness. Matt started journaling about his feelings, talking about the closures, the social distancing, the isolation.
“I was out of school and sad and missed my friends and teacher," said Matt, who's in Third Grade at Northern Shores Elementary School. "My mom told me I should write down my feelings so I decided to write a song. I had never written a song before and was surprised how it turned out.”
The result was "On and On and On."
Matt sings:
When you think all hope is lost, find a new way just to move on, and on, and on, and on, and on.
Don't give up.
People are there for you.
Just move on, and on, and on, and on, and on.
I'm sad and disappointed. Can't play with my friends outdoors.
I'm frustrated.
Can't do the things I've done before.
But it's fine to be sad.
I'll find other things to do until it's over.
I can find new ways to play and be a good friend.
We're all in this together.
The chorus repeats after that, and the song continues, with Matt addressing other children and other people with the same words, but instead of using "I," he uses the word "you." The hope is to give some encouragement to everyone.
"As his mom, I’m just super proud of how he handled his emotions and was able to put them into words. I was surprise when he mentioned writing a song and was really impressed when he came up with his chorus and sang it to me," Stefani McFarland told 13 News Now.
Matt wasn't done with the creative process. He worked with his dad, Philip, to shoot and put together a video for the song.
“The process of video and audio recording was fun and interesting. Eight-year-old kids do not have a long attention span, so you have to get the most out of them as possible with a short amount of time," explained Philip. "The audio recording may have taken 30 minutes and the video recording was maybe 20 minutes. But the fun part was the editing process, as I had to make the best of the short recording time for each."
Matt said, "The best part about working with my dad was hearing him sing the song 20 times a day!”
"It was so much fun watching him and his dad working side by side on this and seeing it all come together," Stefani said. "It was definitely a healthy outlet for him. Watching it makes me smile every single time!"
"I am pleased with what Matthew accomplished and I tried to make him look as good as possible," Philip told 13News Now. "I am proud to be his dad!"
