One day, our Walmart person dropped off the wrong order. Now, we got everything we needed, just dropped off some of somebody else's order. Now, in that order there was Dorito -- hot Doritos. It was extra spicy hot Doritos. Now, let me tell you I am not a spice person. I hate spice. I despise spice. I will absolutely throw that spice out the window, out my home window, or even if the car is literally driving. I will not eat spice. Honestly, if someone kidnapped me and tried to force me to eat spice with a weapon, I would still not eat spice. Spice is the absolute worst for me. I cannot explain how much I hate spice. I like sour more than spice. I’d rather eat something sour than eat something spicy. Spicy, it burns your mouth. Sour, it just makes it hard. So, I absolutely despise spice, and I will never ever eat spice. Now, let me tell you about a story. So, yeah, we got Doritos that was spicy. And we got Doritos that was spicy and, um, he used to eat it when, you know, when they were kids. So basically, I tried one and it tasted so good, it was so good until the spice hit. When the spice hit, I like, I grabbed that milk and water so fast, and I had to drink it so fast because I hate spice. I will say this again: I hate spice.

I have been having a lot of fun recently. Um, school has been over, so right now I'm in summer. And yesterday, or before yesterday, we went to the parade, and before that we went to um, the fireworks which was kind of a ripoff because I couldn't see any of them, and -- because there was this giant house blocking and this giant tree blocking my view. And yeah, it was a whole thing, but we brought lots of snacks ‘cause we expected the fireworks to be all over the sky, but most people couldn't even see it, like me. But, um, and the parade was really fun. I brought, um, I brought ring pops to share with people I know there, and like my friends who I know. Um, but there was this lady who, she know me -- she knew me and I know her, and she dumped a whole entire bucket of candy in my bag and she said, "Here's for knowing me," and she dumped it all in there and um, the parade was really fun but like I said, the, um, the fireworks was kind of a ripoff.

She [Friend A] said, [Friend B] opened up your lunch box and read me it, like, showed me the note really quickly." And I was like, "Wait, what?" And I asked [Friend B] about it. She was like, "No, I never did that." So I guess [Friend A] is lying. And she lies about everything. So I don't believe her. And then she admitted it at school, but then said, "Oh my gosh, my twin sister must have been there." And like -- cuz like she called -- I, she called when I was like, "We can't be friends anymore." I was texting her for a little bit for our last friendship time before I completely ended it. And she was like, "Hey [Diarist] you don't want to play Roblox?" She called to me after, and I was like, "But we're not friends." She's like "What do you mean?" And I was like, "I, we just had this conversation." Um, and she was like, "What do you mean? You don't get it. It's my twin sister!" And I'm just like, "Girl, I can't believe you."

So let's get into it. This girl, one of my best friends, let's go -- let's call her -- let's call her Macaroon. So Macaroon is saying, “You shouldn't be friends with…” -- let’s call the other girl Starry. So Macaroon is saying basically, like, “You shouldn't be friends with Starry. I'm biggest enemies with her. If you keep, keep hanging out with Starry, then we're not gonna be friends.”  And then Starry is like -- well, she and Macaroon have been this and that and this and that. And Starry has this group where basically, where basically you go in, you go in the group, but you have to play with them on recess. And you only get one recess. And you have to sit with them during lunch, and it's like four girls that I don't even know.  And I'm just like, what the heck? So, I didn't join that group, but I always play with Macaroon on recess. And she's just jealous of me and Starry. I don't like how she's jealous.  So then I'm just, like, I'm in a bad situation because either -- oh, yeah, Macaroon said, “If you kept hanging out with Starry, we’re not gonna be friends.”  So I’m in a bad situation. I don't want to lose Starry and I don't want to lose Macaroon. So, like, what am I supposed to do? [Sigh] It is very compuclat- compuclated? What? Com- wait, did I just forget how to say complicated? 

During COVID, I would download a lot of games on my iPad to play and have fun on. It was fun, just playing games all day, besides the obvious school I had to do, which was pretty annoying. Um, that was -- school was like the only bad part to me for COVID because, I know a lot of people died and it was really sad, but I just -- for me it was basically I just got to stay home 'cause no one I know died, or anything like that, and I just got to stay home and learn some -- do some DIY projects and stuff like that. It was -- for me, it was basically just a little break from school for like a year or two, which wasn't that bad for me. I li- -- I hated school at the time, so I, I thought it was good. But then I realized it was bad because a lot of people were dying and stuff from it. And yeah, that's when I started to get -- I started to learn about conscience, and stuff like that. I grew a conscience about it. And it was interesting. It was always scary 'cause I, I thought if -- just if you got the virus, you would die no matter what. So I was always scared that I would get it and die, which I never did. Well, I did get it, but I didn't -- I got it later on. I didn't die from it, though. It was just a weird feeling for me. It gave me a lot of new thoughts and experiences. Um, it was -- I was like, seven during COVID, maybe six. I was going through second grade, and it was a rough year of online work. I said my first swear word during that year. Um, that year I started to like sparkling drinks and stuff like that and it was just interesting. An interesting year for everyone, I think.

How did you like picking up the little kids? Uh, it was something, all right. I had two little kids, [Name 1] and, um, [Name 2] and, oh my, they are crazy. They are always running away from us and then I have another seventh grader help me pick them up. So, two first graders and two seventh graders. And the two first graders will run in opposite directions, not on our path to go back to our room. And [Name 3], my seventh grader, will have to chase one while I chase the other in the opposite direction and then we'll have to try to find ourselves again, and it is so much. Like, we have this door that goes outside of the school and then comes back in. And it, you know, you had to press a button so then they open up, and then they close automatically. Well, there's a hallway leading down to one of them with a railing in between, and my -- I was chasing [Name 2] at the time and he started running around the railing. And -- like, like it was a track field. I'm not even kidding, he just started running around the railing. So I had to try to chase him but then eventually I just stopped and I grabbed him and tried to pull him off the railing. And he grabbed onto that railing so tight. I was dragging him as he was holding on to the railing. It was bad.

So, I was getting back from school and my mom said we can go to McDonald's. So we went and we had to go anyways because she wanted Diet Coke. So we went, and I wanted a, what's it called again?  McChicken. McChicken. Oh, thanks. A McChicken, and so I got one. I think I got two, actually. No, it was one. And I started eating it. The first bite it hurt my tooth, the second it hurt really bad, the third I took another bite. Well, I tried to. I felt something pointy, so I took my mouth off of it and looked, and it was my tooth. It was gone. And I think I screamed and said -- screamed, "Mom," and said that I lost my tooth and then I think my mom said, "Okay, great, put it, um, somewhere where it won't get lost, or like, fall out, and where it's safe." The end.

What's something you wish adults understood about kids today? That's a creative question... I just wish -- 'cause I feel like some -- a lot of adults don't really understand what kids are really going through. Because, like, 100% of middle school kids are going through something hard right now, and, just, 24/7. And I feel like a lot of times adults can be like, focused on themselves or focused on other adults or just like, a little like, "How was your day, kid?" But they don't really -- a lot of them don't really investigate, you know? Like I feel like they need to -- or like you need to be able to tell if someone's wrong -- doing something wrong, like being sad or not talking or, like -- a lot of -- a big deal -- it really bugs me when people are like shaking their leg of anxiety. Because, like, I feel for them and I know what it's like. Or like, staring off in the distance. Like, all middle schoolers do that. We're all tired, and we need sleep, and we need help, and we need friends. So, if any teachers see anyone, just out of -- especially out of it, whatever day. Not in it. Being goofy. Just -- or even, like, crying. Like, actually, please do something.

Okay, so, I'm gonna try to be so upbeat for one minute straight, and -- okay, now.  Okay, so, yeah, camp reflection day was absolutely awesome. We went bowling, it was so much fun, and I -- there was Dr. Pepper, and Dr. Pepper is my favorite, so I got to enjoy a crisp Dr. Pepper, and all my friends were there, and I was like -- after I bowled, I would run to their lane. It was just so fun, overall it was just a great experience, and I loved it so much, and it was so much fun. I love bowling. Like, if I could go with my family and like we could go any time, I would! Like, I would go right now. I would go after school. I would -- I could ball -- like, bowl -- for like 24 hours straight. I love it so much, but I'm super bad at it, but, you know, practice makes perfect. So I'm in the practice-perfect era right now. But. I'm gonna get there. And I'm gonna be able to bowl strikes. 'Cause when I was there at the camp reflection day, I didn't even get one strike. Like how sad was that? I got two spares, I think, and I was so close to getting three spares, but I didn't, but that's okay.  Okay. Now I can be calm and collected.

One time my dad told me to come help him with making the -- help with the porch and the railing and stuff. So I went to go help him, 'cause he was doing the railing and I had to hold it down for him. And he told me, "Don't fall, don't fall." And I was like, "OK, I'm not gonna fall!" So then I went back to the railing and, like, I fell. So, you know, I like leaned forward a little bit and then I fell on my side when I came down. It was like a 8 foot, 8 foot high deck, so it hurt, but luckily I was okay and it was just a little bruise on my side and I didn't have to go anywhere. No checkups, no hospitals, no anything, no Band-Aids. I was totally fine, just a little bit of scrape, and it was so lucky, because I was right next to the construction, like, table Dad had – my dad had with a bunch of wood on it and sharp nails and stuff. And I was like a foot away from it. I was so close to falling on it and it could have been so much worse, but it's just so lucky to, lucky to have that and lucky to be okay and not have anything broken or just a couple of bruises, so, yeah. I'm -- it was really good, but. And then, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna tell you what I learned from it. What I learned is to be more careful and more aware of my surroundings and to know that whatever you sign up to do, you need to be able to prepare for that and know what you're doing instead of just winging it because that can end up being really bad. But I was really lucky with what happened and I was okay, so that is good.