"mummy, I'm over frozen"

The apparent age that the 'Elsa-Effect' wears off
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​My five and a half year old is officially ‘over’ Frozen, marking the end of a 3 year obsession with Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven and Kristoff. ​

Okay okay, let’s be honest here – it’s really all about Elsa.

Rewinding back to the start of those 3 years, we were just about to transition from a ‘pre-Frozen’ era to a ‘post-Frozen’ era:
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In the ‘pre-Frozen’ era, the term ‘Frozen’ was used in the very literal sense of the word to describe everyday items such as frozen peas, frozen ice cubes, ice cream, frozen cokes and anything extremely cold in nature; and the movie Frozen was about as well-known as a submerged iceberg in Antarctica.

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In the ‘post-Frozen’ era, the word ‘Frozen’ transmogrifies into the middle of our living room and takes on an almost lifelike appearance, bringing with it a flurry of coronation festivals, secret sister ice palaces, scary larger-than-life marshmallows and a sing-a-long track that works to alter the frequency waves in our brain so that ‘Let it Go, Let it Gooooooo’ and ‘Love is an Open Dooooooooooor’ cycle on repeat over and over again day and night.
 
This era is also witness to the arrival of a multitude of merchandise items (including most importantly the pale blue Elsa dress with matching crown) and Frozen theme parties complete with Elsa appearances (including the opening of dedicated ‘Frozen Party Rooms’ completely ‘Frozen-fied’ for you – at a price of course).
 
You see it’s really not the movie itself (that does in fact have a nice underlying message of love and sisterhood to it) but the frenzy that it creates that most heavily signifies this period.
 
So when my five year old proclaimed that now she was at Big School she was ‘over’ Frozen, I can’t say I was terribly disappointed. For the first time in Forever, as she proceeded to rip down her life-size posters of Elsa and Anna that spanned an entire wall of her room, I wondered whether this might be the average age of discontent with Disney’s multibillion dollar snow sensation film success?
Could five and a half years be the age that all girls will farewell Frozen from their lives?
 
Could we actually get to a conclusive point in history where we could ‘Let it Go’ for good?

​ I secretly smirked to myself in sheer hope. Then felt guilty for doing so.
 
But given my two year old is still heavily entrenched in the ‘Frozen Fever’ phase, I had a vested interest in knowing the answer to this question.
 
One down, one to go.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not really the movie Frozen per-se that sends us batty in bemusement, I mean there’s nothing wrong with wanting to Build a Snowman but when your little girl loses her Elsa crown and all hell breaks loose, or you sit watching the film with your kids for the 4th time on repeat, something grates at your mind and you can’t help but wish that the movie never saw the light of day.
 
Our four walls have witnessed endless arguments over who is going to wear the Elsa (never Anna!) dress or who is going to use the Frozen dinner bowl set tonight (with matching pink cutlery of course). Never mind that there were Olaf and Sven bowls, Anna cutlery, Kristoff lego pieces – it simply never mattered. It was always Elsa that they wanted.
 
There was even one particular ‘singing Elsa’ gift that my eldest received for Christmas a few years ago that had to be ‘returned to sender’ so to speak, as the uncontrollable volume on it was programmed so loud that we simply couldn’t hear ourselves think when it was turned on (and it was turned on a LOT). I still get shivers when I think of that doll, and hope the kids never find her where we hid her at my mum’s place.
Sorry Elsa.
 
I love all that you stand for and love your work.
 
But if five and a half is the age that you lose your connection with my kids, I’ll take it.