Frozen in time

"Let it gooooooooo!"

One day, Xena came back from school, singing this at the top of her voice. I was surprised. That song was not familiar to me. So I asked her to sing the whole thing.

"Let it gooooooooooooo!" She hollered. "Kyaanadaaaaa any more!"

"What anymore??"

"Kyaaaanadaaa."

"Canada??"

"Kyaaaanadaaa."

"What's that?"

"I don't know."

"Who taught you this song? What song is it?"

"Belle taught me. It's the Elsa song."

I know Belle is her best friend at school. But who on earth was Elsa?

"Who is Elsa??"

"She's Elsa." Explained Xena, as if that was enough.

And then I found out. Elsa was some kind of princess in some kind of animated movie called Frozen. I don't really keep track of English movies all that much, and I'm definitely not a fan of animated movies. (Except for Finding Nemo. Who can hate Nemo?)

But this Elsa seemed to be a global craze among little girls. So much so that the director of Frozen Jennifer Lee has publicly apologised to parents for the song 'Let it go", which ironically the girls can't seem to let go of, even though it's been a year.

Over the next few weeks, Elsa became more and more prominent in our household. I was amazed Xena was so into her, in spite of not having watched the movie or knowing anything about it. I googled to realise that her "kyaaanadaaaa" was 'can't hold it back'. She refused to believe me. I played the song on Youtube to prove my point, but she simply refused to acknowledge that that was the Elsa song. When I persisted in my attempts to correct her, she protested saying, "But Belle says 'kyaaanadaaaa anymore'." Oh. Ok. That's settled then.

In the last few weeks, we have attended numerous Elsa-themed events and parties. I have bought her an Elsa dress, Elsa hair clips and an Elsa bus card holder. (Well, actually, it was Santa who put the Elsa card holder inside the ladybug bag he gave her for Christmas, but don't tell her that.) She also got an Elsa stationery set as a Christmas gift from a friend of mine who remarked, "I figured I couldn't go wrong with Elsa". And of course, she has already asked for an Elsa cake for her 4th birthday.

Elsa is now a household name for us. She comes up randomly in all kinds of conversations. As does her sister Anna and some kind of snowman in the movie called Olaf. Sample these:

#1
Me - Xena, why is your bag on the floor?
Xena - Because I'm Elsa.
Me - ???

#2
Xena - Mama, Belle is not my best friend anymore.
Me - Oh no, what happened?
Xena - I told her I am Elsa and she is Anna. And she said she is Elsa and I am Anna.
Me - Oh dear.
Xena - So she is not my best friend anymore.

#3
Xena - Mama, I'm Elsa.
Me - Oh yeah?
Xena - Yes. And you're Anna.
Me - I'm Anna? Okay!
Xena - No no. Hmm... Daddy is Anna.
Me - Why is Daddy Anna?? Why can't I be Anna?
Xena - Because you are Olaf.
Me - ????!!!!!

When I try to discipline her jungle hair into a tidy ponytail or braid for school and she protests, I just tell her that Elsa always has her hair neatly tied in a braid, and it works most of the time. I don't know how long this craze will last, but I'm milking it for all its worth. The best thing that Elsa has done for me is what her teachers reported today -- she didn't want to eat lunch, and they told her that she needs to eat so she can be Elsa. And eat she did. (Note: This did not work at home. Of course. What was I thinking?)

Some day, when she is older, we will all sit down and watch the movie together. I wonder when that would be, and whether she'd still be as crazy about it.

Now if you'll excuse me, Olaf needs to go and shake the song out of its head.

Let it gooooooooo!
Kyaanadaaaaa any more!