#Devastated 4-year-old loses it over lack of ‘fun’ during pandemic lockdown

An economic shutdown to curb the virus has meant that many mainstays of American childhood, such as ice cream trucks and the McDonald’s PlayPlace, are off limits due to the very nature of their kid-friendliness — because where youngsters go, germs follow.

That means kids like Blake McLennan from Phoenix are having to grow up pretty fast — but not without a good tantrum. Back in April, her parents captured her meltdown upon learning that her favorite activities are currently no-nos.

The three-minute video begins mid-rant as Blake sits at the dining table with her parents.

“So, now, everything in this world has to shut all the way down. Nobody has to go anywhere because they’re shut down. The ice cream truck is shut down,” she sobs. In the background, another child can be heard crying, too.

She adds, “We can’t go anywhere — not even McDonald’s, which is my favorite restaurant.”

(She did, however, appear to have a lovely birthday party in May, when she turned 5.)

The melodramatic footage was originally captured near the start of the US coronavirus outbreak, and posted to the family Instagram account, @MacHouseBlanc, on April 2, where it has since been viewed more than 230,000 times. However, the clip got a bump from “gangster gardener” Ron Finley, who boasts 157,000 followers on the social-media platform. There, the video has garnered over 1.1 million views.

As Blake counts down the many injustices of the pandemic, her dad tries to console his desperate daughter.

“You can pick up McDonald’s in the drive-thru,” he says. Incredulous, she explains it’s won’t be the same as prepandemic.

“If you go through the drive-thru it’s just boring because you have to wait for your food to come. If you’re inside, playing on the playground, it wouldn’t be boring,” she says. “It’s just boring when you’re waiting for food to come.”

Even Sunday School, with its “candy and toys,” is canceled for now. “It’s just really fun,” she says. “I only wanted to have fun … and now everything in this world has to be shut down.”

Why even go on?

Blake doesn’t blame lawmakers or her parents for the restrictions. In fact, her understanding of why viral outbreaks occur is more cogent than many adults’.

“I mean why would germs come around to people if they don’t want germs to come around to them — because everyone doesn’t like germs because they get sick. And everything has to be shut down for everybody to be safe. And it’s just not fair because everything that is fun has to be shut down. And the only thing that is open is nothing. Nothing!”

An unwelcome voice of reason — her dad — chimes in again at the end of the video: “But we’re doing it so that everybody can be safe, right?”

His words do not resonate with Blake, who then turns to her mom and asks, “Mom, tomorrow will I be able to play on my iPad?”

Same, Blake. Same.