9-year-old girl asks Santa to take away coronavirus

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WTVQ) – You’ve heard parents’ worries about their kids falling behind because of virtual school but now, many of you are also worried about their social skills and emotional development.

“Dear Santa, I hope you had a good year,” 9-year-old Bella Kyle wrote a letter to Santa but it’s not for your typical list of toys, she asked for something specific to 2020 that everyone can relate to.

“What I want for Christmas is can you please take away the Coronavirus?”

Bella’s mom Farrah Kyle says the family is vulnerable because of underlying health conditions.

They haven’t gone to church or school, they’ve even avoided places as simple as the store, all to stay healthy and she’s concerned it could be hurting Bella’s social development.

“What do you feel? A little sad? Yeah,” Bella’s shy, shier, her mom says than in the past.

“Made us a lot more timid to talk to people. Like when we have seen people it’s kind of like a shock,” Farrah Kyle says.

She says they’ve always been an active family so staying isolated has been a struggle.

“We try to play outside, we cookout, fire pit, we’ve done a lot more driving. We’ve drove places looking at Christmas lights and in the summer we drove just to go look at the floodwall in Maysville. You know, just things like that,” Kyle said.

She says even if Santa can’t grant Bella’s wish, at least they’re spending more quality time together, the positive side to this negative year.