NWMR: Ideas needed to help divert 2.5yo from Frozen obsession!

vszapp

Asking you ladies since I find you to be the most insightful group on TBMB

We are not big movie/video watchers in our house, but we let DD watch pieces of Frozen during illness and travel several months ago. She really liked it, so we bought her the book, too. Over the past few months she has become obsessed - she only wants to listen to Frozen music, always chooses that book first, and always asks to watch the video (she gets 15 min of screen time while we cook dinner). I am not really into the Disney/princess thing at all, but I like how the girls help themselves in that movie, so I thought it was NBD. However, after months of this, there is no end in sight. She calls herself Elsa all the time, and she has lately started being "mean" saying that's what Elsa does (clearly a teachable moment about the fact that Elsa is just scared, etc, but that's a bit much even for our very precocious 2yo).

We've tried letting her pretty much have unlimited access to this stuff, tried cutting it off, but nothing has worked. I would really like to bring her back down to earth, but I'm not sure how to do it. Hoping some of you have experienced something similar and have some ideas. Maybe introduce her to another story/video with positive messages (and if so, what)? This has gone too far...

Leap08

PrivacyWanted said:

Honestly I think you just have to ride it out.

Frozen is huge right now. I don't know what your childcare situation is, but my DD's friends in preschool all talk about Elsa and Anna. They each have their favorites. They "play" Frozen.  They sing the songs. They draw Elsa.  They all hate Hans.  I see the same thing happen in the younger rooms too. So even if she didn't watch it, I think you'd still be dealing with it if she's exposed to other little kids very much.  Heck even my 20month old DS sometimes belts out Let it Go, and he's never seen the movie. 

DD first saw Frozen back in December in the theater. She was super obsessed. Frozen was her party theme at her request.  She still loves it but has gradually asked to watch/read other things. I think you'll find the same thing.   And it's likely just one of many obsessions to come (DD's at 2.5 was Rapunzel/tangled)

I agree completely. I think the obsession is starting to wain a bit at my house. The girls still want to be Elsa and Anna for Halloween and DD1 still wants a Frozen theme for her birthday (she'll be 5). But we don't have to listen to it every day anymore and it's been weeks since they've watched the movie or read a Frozen book. Before DD1 saw Frozen last December, her obsession was Ariel/Little Mermaid and she had been stuck on that for about a year. I kind of wonder what the next obsession will be.

SunAndRain

We've been dealing with same thing from DD.  Finally I broke down and bought a second movie: Finding Nemo.  At least then we could alternate.  When that ran its course I bought The Little Mermaid.  At least now DD will want to sort of rotate through all three.  I wasn't sure if DD would take to a different movie but Finding Nemo is pretty darn captivating.  She took longer to warm up to Mermaid.

And I don't let her watch tons of TV.  Maybe 4 movies per week. (OK, maybe 5.)  I always swore my child wouldn't watch TV but sometimes mama needs her rest

ASmallWonder

I agree with riding it out.  My son knew the characters and songs before ever seeing the movie just because all the kids in his class were obsessed with it.  

Mustardseed2007

I just want to say that my son sings "let it go, let it go". It's the only line he knows. He hasn't seen the movie but he came home from a friends bday party singing it and lots of kids sing it at school. He then has also asked me to sing it to him before bed several times. 

It's not his obsession - that was superheroes, then pirates, then octonauts, and now he's just generally obsessed with Halloween things like ghosts and pumpkins. Obsessions come and go, even though in the moment it seems like they will never go.

mae0111

DD1, formerly (and still a little) obsessed with Frozen, is now getting into other stuff.  Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, Monsters University, and Cinderella are the big ones right now.

I'm really looking forward to the Paddington Bear movie.  I hope she likes it!

[Deleted User]

You just have to

and ride it out.

vszapp

MarlaSinger& said:

You just have to

and ride it out.

LOL, if she wasn't acting like a brat when she was being Elsa I would totally let it ride. I guess maybe I shouldn't be too quick to wish this phase away - the next one might be worse...

nattyncbride

Agree with PrivacyWanted; even if you stop the madness within the confines of your home, the other kids at school/daycare will feed it.  My son is OBSESSED with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He has never seen the show, movie, nor do we have the books or figurines in our house.  However b/c of his peers, he knows each one, their personality, weapon, and quotes from the show.  I think they are obsessive little creatures at this point (DS is 4.5). 

Good luck!

kristinc01

At our house some books and movies get "lost" pretty frequently.  Just hide them, say you will look later and she can pick something else.  Once it's out of her routine she may not insist on it so much.  (I know, I know, easier said than done)

vszapp

kristinc01 said:

At our house some books and movies get "lost" pretty frequently.  Just hide them, say you will look later and she can pick something else.  Once it's out of her routine she may not insist on it so much.  (I know, I know, easier said than done)

Yep, we already did this with the book, and last night I told her that the computer with the movie on it wasn't working. She didn't freak but still wanted to dance to the songs (which we put on, of course).

vszapp

PrivacyWanted said:

vszapp said:

MarlaSinger& said:

You just have to

and ride it out.

LOL, if she wasn't acting like a brat when she was being Elsa I would totally let it ride. I guess maybe I shouldn't be too quick to wish this phase away - the next one might be worse...

I think you need to separate her obsession with Frozen/Elsa from the "brat" part.  I mean, Elsa isn't really even a "brat".   Your DD is at an age where they really start exploring their independence, and how much they can push limits, and push others around.

When my DD was 2.5  she was really into playing "family," as were all her friends. If you were the "mom" then that meant you got to make up all the rules.  She also wanted to play family at home and be the "mom".  If she wanted something, ie milk.  It'd be like "you have to get it for me, because we're playing family and I'm the mom." 

Point being, you could remove Frozen entirely and still be dealing with this issue. I think all you can do is reinforce that she's the kid, you're the parent, and you have certain rules and expectations. And society as a whole also has rules and expectations. 

For sure, you probably missed my earlier post where I said it was a teachable moment, but I  hate the whole princess thing anyway, so this just irks me.

GillianB32

I agree with @PrivacyWanted that you will probably have to live with this obsession for a little while. My nephew was into Mickey Mouse things when he was 2 years old and my brother (his father) felt concerned so he redirected him into watching nursery rhymes. 

After a few weeks my nephew learned a lot, people didn't believe that a 2y/o baby knew the alphabet even not in order and also some colors and numbers. 

NADA-H

I think it's a phase, I see little girls obsessed with it all the way here in Doha, Qatar

my cousin was obsessed with Barney growing up, he's a med student now at Colombia Uni. But he was absolutely obsessed, all his toys were Barney toys, he had all the DVDs and books, coloring books, and he had a stuffed Barney that he grabbed everywhere and he wouldn't want to leave the house if Barney was on TV...my uncle and aunt had to live through it until he grew out of it.

but yes Frozen has become such an obsession for little kids it's so strange