There's no fake hair in T-ball
June 18, 2015 8:00 AM   Subscribe

How do you get your Frozen-obsessed daughters to try softball? Give the team a Frozen theme..
posted by aabbbiee (43 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
My 7-y.o. daughter -- who still sings the "Frozen" songs -- plays softball, and I bet her team would all go for this in a second.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:22 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I don't have kids and have never even seen Frozen, but I love this A LOT.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:26 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


This is just... I might cry. So happy.
posted by French Fry at 8:30 AM on June 18, 2015


"Does everyone have an Elsa dress?" "YES>"

There might not be a more "parenting in the 2010s" moment than that.
posted by stevis23 at 8:36 AM on June 18, 2015 [7 favorites]


"Does everyone have an Elsa dress?" "YES"

You are forgetting the "BUT I WANNA BE ANNA!" part.
posted by eriko at 8:38 AM on June 18, 2015


Judging from the racks and racks of surplus Anna dresses around Halloween... No one wants to be Anna.
posted by French Fry at 8:57 AM on June 18, 2015 [7 favorites]


This is hilarious and adorable and awesome. I hate Disney and I hate the princessification of everything, but Frozen isn't terrible (instead of YAY LOVE A BOY it's YAY LOVE MY SISTER, for those who haven't seen it) and little girls are still obsessed with it two years later. It's easier just to go with it than to fight it.

My Girl Scout troop is divided into three factions. Girls who are obsessed with Frozen, girls who are obsessed with My Little Pony, and girls who draw pink fluffy unicorns in icy light blue landscapes and little blonde princesses on rainbows.

It was simpler in 2012 when everyone was just obsessed with Monster High and we could call it a day.
posted by phunniemee at 8:58 AM on June 18, 2015 [4 favorites]


As a public service, Disney needs to make a movie where the heroine makes a big deal out of the need to put on practical clothes before you do fun, active stuff. There could be a big musical number about it. "Oh, my gown shimmers like silver rain / but it gets caught in my bicycle chain..."
posted by gurple at 9:04 AM on June 18, 2015 [35 favorites]


Man, they're all so fierce, except for the one who's smiling because she apparently just can't help herself. Adorbs.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:07 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Judging from the racks and racks of surplus Anna dresses around Halloween... No one wants to be Anna.

One of the few (ok if I'm being honest I actually have this feeling a lot) times I've wanted to punch one of my GS parents is before Halloween this year when we were going around the table at the meeting talking about what everyone was going to be for Halloween (Elsa, Elsa, Elsa, Elsa, Trixie, Elsa) and one girl looked so dejected and said she wanted to go as Elsa but had to go as Anna because her mom couldn't find a blonde wig and said she couldn't be Elsa without blonde hair. And I went up to her mom after the meeting to be like, you know, it's ok for Elsa to be a brunette, they're not going to send the Frozen police after you, and the mom was all "but she doesn't look like Elsa at all" and it's like fuck you lady, this is a troop of 8 year old Mexican girls, none of them look like Scandinavian ice princesses, get over yourself. Grrrrrr. Anyway, long story short the girl showed up at our Halloween party dressed as a generic witch because fucking nobody wants to be Anna.
posted by phunniemee at 9:08 AM on June 18, 2015 [22 favorites]


The picture is adorable! When my son was in baseball, all the little girls' teams were called "The Hannah Montanas" or "The Fightin' Mileys" or something. It was impressive how many variations of that the teams had come up with. I'm sure they're all Frozen themed now. My favorite team name was always "The Turbo Squids". Apparently it was the name of the dad/coach/sponsor's company.
posted by artychoke at 9:14 AM on June 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


As a public service, Disney needs to make a movie where the heroine makes a big deal out of the need to put on practical clothes before you do fun, active stuff. There could be a big musical number about it. "Oh, my gown shimmers like silver rain / but it gets caught in my bicycle chain..."

They did. It was called Brave.

Disclaimers: Yes, Pixar /= Disney, sort of. Yes, that's not really what the movie is about. However, the scene where Merida tears all the seams of her fancy princess dress in order to properly shoot an arrow so that she won't be forcibly married to one of the oafs on display... well, that's pretty similar to what you're talking about.

Back to the point: These photos are awesome, and I love everything about this story. But wow, that's a lot of blondes. I guess that's Oklahoma for you.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:14 AM on June 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


Judging from the racks and racks of surplus Anna dresses around Halloween... No one wants to be Anna.

I go to Disney World frequently.* One of the game I play is Anna vs. Elsa -- count kids in Anna and Elsa dresses. Most dresses wins.

Last five trips, Elsa has won three times, but Anna two, and one of those went to the wire -- Elsa only won because an Elsa got on the flight home.

So, don't count out the plucky redhead. NEVER count out the plucky redhead. OK FINE.





* Go ahead. Judge me. I don't care, I'm at Disney World!
posted by eriko at 9:17 AM on June 18, 2015 [7 favorites]


Heh. Some things never change. When my older brother played little league soccer, this was probably 1978-79, his team was called The Force. (Sadly, they didn't all dress up as Chewbaccas for their team photo, more's the pity.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:18 AM on June 18, 2015


They did. It was called Brave.

I love Brave! Brave is great. Can't get my kid into it. She and her friends don't even know Merida's name -- they all call her "Brave". One time, I saw one kid in a Merida costume at Halloween, out of hundreds. I don't know about the financials, but I'm worried that Disney learned a terrible lesson from the failure of Brave to catch on.
posted by gurple at 9:22 AM on June 18, 2015


It's easier just to go with it than to fight it.

You were SO CLOSE here. SO CLOSE.
posted by GuyZero at 9:28 AM on June 18, 2015 [11 favorites]


I love Brave! Brave is great. Can't get my kid into it. She and her friends don't even know Merida's name -- they all call her "Brave". One time, I saw one kid in a Merida costume at Halloween, out of hundreds. I don't know about the financials, but I'm worried that Disney learned a terrible lesson from the failure of Brave to catch on.

Huh. Brave is hugely popular among my 7-year-old daughter and her friends (although this has been largely eclipsed by Frozen). In fact, we found a *gorgeous* Merida costume (probably one of the real expensive Disney Store versions) at a consignment shop for cheap (curly red wig and all), and my daughter is excited to be her for Halloween this year.

Then again, we also really enjoyed Princess & The Frog, so maybe we're an outlier.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:36 AM on June 18, 2015


Why do they like Elsa over Anna?

I sympathize with Anna having to clean up after her flighty queen sister's emotional outbursts and sister's flight to avoid responsibility for those actions.


I just don't get the logic, "Sure Anna Saves all life on the planet from a new Ice age, but Anna has magic powers and sing prettier!"
posted by Megafly at 9:55 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Why do they like Elsa over Anna?

Same reason they like Spider-Man over Greg from Accounting.
posted by gurple at 10:07 AM on June 18, 2015 [8 favorites]


Why do they like Elsa over Anna?

For my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, it comes down to the fact that Elsa has ice powers. To a preschooler who has just realized that she's got comparatively little control over her own life, the notion of a young woman who is a) queen and b) capable of freezing things that displease her is incredibly intoxicating. In fact, we went through a brief period where all my daughter's fits of pique were accompanied by her flinging her hands out and screaming, "Ice powers! You can't say anything because I froze you!"
posted by sobell at 10:07 AM on June 18, 2015 [22 favorites]


I think Elsa is a really compelling figure for girls who constantly receive the message to behave, act like a lady, be nice, kind, share, smile. Elsa has enough power that she doesn't have to do any of that, and no one can make her. Girls don't get a lot of stories where they consider what it might be like to have immense, world-changing power.

Perhaps an analogy with more resonance for you, why be Robin when you could be Batman?
posted by gladly at 10:08 AM on June 18, 2015 [4 favorites]


drop quote: "Betsy Gregory is a full-time mom in Edmond who has a photography business on the side."

Really, a "full time mom"? I guess I'm only a "part time mom" because I have a job that's not "on the side". F#@@. Stuff like that is a toxic stream for people like me. See how many times the word "mom" is used in that article and think about the societal pressures implicit in that outlook.

[Though, I admit, the picture is a tribute to what skill and patience can produce. It is adorable.]
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 10:10 AM on June 18, 2015 [5 favorites]


I hate Disney and I hate the princessification of everything, but Frozen isn't terrible (instead of YAY LOVE A BOY it's YAY LOVE MY SISTER, for those who haven't seen it)

The sister thing is big, but there's a bunch of other stuff too that makes me feel like it was really carefully crafted to send some great and thoughtful messages. For example, in the song "Fixer-Upper", which is about how people aren't perfect but you can love them anyway ("People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed, but throw a little love their way and you'll bring out the best...everyone's a bit of a fixer-upper...") they make a point of stopping to have the main troll singer say "We're not saying you can change him, 'cause people don't really change, we're just saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange...". I can imagine them sitting around writing that song and being like "Okay, love is great and important, but we need to make sure we're not telling little girls to stay in bad relationships because it's their job to cure anyone with love."

Similarly, Anna initially falls in love with (or thinks she falls in love with) a guy she just met and the movie makes the point that this is not how things happen, love is something that grows. There's so much "love at first sight" crap out there (yes, much of it from Disney) that it's really nice to see this handled differently.

There's also a ton of amazing sister dynamics in "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" -- the way Anna says "We used to be best buddies -- and now we're not. I wish you would tell me why..." I mean, in this case it's because Elsa's got ice powers (or is growing up -- see point below!), but this is also something that happens to siblings and it's very real. My brother and I were fairly close and had fun when we were little, and then when I got towards my adolescent years I didn't want him around anymore, and I was even pretty mean to him sometimes and I'm sure he just really didn't understand what was happening in the same way Anna doesn't understand what's up with Elsa. The emotions in this are very powerful and I think speak to a lot of kids (and adults); getting older and leaving behind the people you love is really hard and it's confusing for kids who don't get why their siblings don't want to be friends anymore.

Finally, you can look at the entire ice thing as being about Elsa's femininity/sexuality and how she's told to repress it and she can't and what hurts her is NOT that she's got this power but the way she is treated and told to repress it. This is super evident based on her costume change as well when she is in her ice castle. The whole movie can be read as an indictment of the society that teaches women to hide their feelings and abilities (and sexuality) rather than taking ownership of them, almost like how Philip Pullman's Northern Lights/His Dark Materials series is a critique of the Narnia books which make girls growing up into this horrible thing (wrote my BA in part on this!). It turns out that growing up is a struggle but it's not some horrible thing that's happening to Elsa; she doesn't need to remain "innocent" and girlish. It's tough because people try to hide her powers to protect her (including her parents who love her), but those abilities make her POWERFUL! Growing up, changing from a little girl into an adult woman, is AWESOME! You get SWEET POWERS AND ABILITIES! You can do amazing stuff! You are basically a wizard! You can be anything you want! If people are afraid of you, it's because they don't understand and can't do what you can. You are not the problem.

Bottom line: I think Frozen is a fantastic movie and the fact that little girls (and boys! And people of all ages and genders!) are obsessed with it is actually pretty awesome.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:23 AM on June 18, 2015 [27 favorites]


When my older brother played little league soccer, this was probably 1978-79, his team was called The Force.

Same story, same timeframe, except we were the "Star Warriors".
posted by The Tensor at 11:35 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Same story, same timeframe, except we were the "Star Warriors".

Surely this can be a thing. Guess your age by the name of your tee ball team.

We were the Turtles. The YMCA wouldn't let us use the word ninja.
posted by phunniemee at 11:44 AM on June 18, 2015


An ice hockey team would make more sense.
posted by w0mbat at 11:49 AM on June 18, 2015 [2 favorites]




French Fry: No one wants to be Anna.

Last year my Kindergarten-age daughter sang "Let it Go" -- she did great! -- for the school talent show. There was a rather tentative email from the mom who was organizing things the night after auditions (which were really just to screen out the people who wouldn't even show up once, or the kids who would freeze in the headlights). She wrote that there were rather a lot of girls who wanted to sing "Let it Go" and perhaps maybe some of them could sing another song? Maybe? Please?

In the end a few of the girls relented but some, including my Molly, hung in there. There were two or three versions of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" -- including one with an actual door mounted on wheels, which repeated this year -- along with all the "Let it Go" numbers and one "In SUmmer" performance -- maybe eleven in all? It was a little crazy. But yeah, everyone wanted to sing the big, powerful "Let it Go" and far fewer wanted to sing the Anna part.

(This year she sang "A Few of my Favorite Things" and was awesome again. Natch.)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:02 PM on June 18, 2015


In fact, we went through a brief period where all my daughter's fits of pique were accompanied by her flinging her hands out and screaming, "Ice powers! You can't say anything because I froze you!"

Like many adorable tots seen on YouTube videos, my very headstrong 2.5 year old has spontaneously started mirror performing every move and gesture of Elsa during "Let It Go." Scarily well - I've taught ballet to 4 and 5 year olds who had less spatial reasoning and coordination.

So I'd like to thank you for the forewarning because I've just realized when we get to the "oh wow ice powers" stage I'm gonna be royally fucked.
posted by romakimmy at 12:49 PM on June 18, 2015


Surely this can be a thing. Guess your age by the name of your tee ball team.

Carter's Liquor.
posted by madajb at 1:05 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, anything that gets girls out and moving, being competitive, etc is great.
The girls look adorable and genuinely happy to be playing.

On the other hand, as the parent of a young girl that I have to drive 20-25 minutes across town to practice with the girls t-ball team rather than walk 4 blocks to practice with the boys t-ball team, I'm not inclined to be charitable to anything that divides little kids into boys and girls.
posted by madajb at 1:21 PM on June 18, 2015


So I'd like to thank you for the forewarning because I've just realized when we get to the "oh wow ice powers" stage I'm gonna be royally fucked.

My kid combined the concept with Gru from Despicable Me for a while. She'd push out her hands at you, palms forward and fingers curled and yell, "FREEZE RAY!"
posted by zarq at 1:23 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


On the other hand, as the parent of a young girl that I have to drive 20-25 minutes across town to practice with the girls t-ball team rather than walk 4 blocks to practice with the boys t-ball team, I'm not inclined to be charitable to anything that divides little kids into boys and girls.

There was a girl on my son's little league team - they didn't split up the girls and boys until age 10 or so - and she was phenomenal.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 1:31 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Guess your age by the name of your tee ball team.

Alternately, tee ball didn’t exist when I was that old. Which also says something about my age.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:59 PM on June 18, 2015


I've found that in general play, lots of girls want to be Anna. She starts out rather foolhardy but quickly shows determination and bravery and is not at all concerned about the soundness of her mission because she is so propelled to save her sister (and the town). She is never a shrinking violet and she stays front and center to the end.

But when it comes to what dress to wear, Elsa has captured the imagination. There was a fascinating AMA awhile back with this woman who was a professional Princess -- she'd dress up like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, etc. and go to children's birthday parties. She really felt like it was all about the dress. So, any "princess" without the dress is not going to sufficiently captivate.

This is the same for superheros! Almost all the very popular superheros are heroes with costumes. It's an easy way to put on an identity and really feel it. And I encourage my daughter to look for "hero" qualities in her favorite princesses. When she talks about how pretty they are, I am very matter of fact and say, "Hmmm, I suppose so, but I really like how she saves the day by...." Or is brave or resourceful or kind or silly.... Combining Elsa with softball? Go for it.
posted by amanda at 2:22 PM on June 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


I concur with the dress, Amanda.

I did not keep count like eriko, but I did see a fair number of Annas at Disneyland last week.

" Growing up, changing from a little girl into an adult woman, is AWESOME! You get SWEET POWERS AND ABILITIES! You can do amazing stuff! You are basically a wizard! You can be anything you want! If people are afraid of you, it's because they don't understand and can't do what you can. You are not the problem. "

I wish adulthood was actually like that IRL.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:03 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


But seriously, those little black eyes and umpire vest with a dress? SO CUTE. And their expressions!
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:06 PM on June 18, 2015


The team name is The Freeze!
I'll have to point out the connection to Frozen of that name to my 6 yr old daughter. She'll like that.
Next up: telling her about a place called Friesland where her grandfather is from.
posted by joost de vries at 6:23 PM on June 18, 2015


There was a girl on my son's little league team - they didn't split up the girls and boys until age 10 or so - and she was phenomenal.

After long argument with the rec league, it transpired that my daughter could play on the boys team.
But since the boys teams are full (with a waiting list), she would have to petition the coach to accept an extra player _and_ it would mean she was taking another kid's space in the roster.

Which didn't seem fair to the little boys, as they had already started practicing before she got her team assignment.

The whole situation really ticks me off, but I'm trying not to be one _those_ parents, and model good sportsmanship for my daughter.
So, I grin and bear the mad dashes across town after work.
posted by madajb at 7:30 PM on June 18, 2015


Similarly, Anna initially falls in love with (or thinks she falls in love with) a guy she just met and the movie makes the point that this is not how things happen, love is something that grows. There's so much "love at first sight" crap out there (yes, much of it from Disney) that it's really nice to see this handled differently.

I thought it was a moment of brilliance that this line was not only funny but underscored the point of how wrong she is.

Hans: It's like we finish each other's… Anna: Sandwiches!

I do not buy the Arrested Development reference idea btw

I think it's okay to want to be Elsa OR Anna so long as you don't want to be their horrible parents who are just bad at their job.
posted by phearlez at 10:46 AM on June 19, 2015


Surely this can be a thing. Guess your age by the name of your team.

I can't remember our team name, but one of the other teams in our league was the "Bionic Broads". Could that be more 70s?
posted by mogget at 11:30 AM on June 19, 2015


My buddy has this brilliant theory about Frozen.

Basically, well, let me just copy paste...


So there's that guy Hans who's pretty cool to Ana for the first 3/4 of the movie. They fall in love, get engaged and sing a really great song together, then Ana has to split to chase her crazy sister Elsa. While she's gone Hans holds shit down in the kingdom, passes out soup and warm clothes and stuff and seems to be a pretty all around good guy.

Then late in the movie Ana comes back with her heart frozen and needing a true love kiss to survive. That's when Hans makes a complete heel turn and tells her he doesn't love her and locks her up to die.

wtf happened? People act like he was a conniving fuck the whole time but this doesn't fit with how he acted up until that moment. I have my own theory and it will blow your fucking mind.

Right before Ana comes back to Arundelle (sp?) her and Kristof meet up with the 'love expert' rock trolls. It's been shown that the trolls have powerful magic that can be used to rearrange peoples minds and memories. Kristof is the trolls' adopted son and they are thrilled to see him with a beautiful woman and do everything they can to match them up. Then the trolls sing a jaunty song. One verse is about the fact that she's already engaged to Hans, which they call a 'minor thing'. Then there's the fateful line:

her brain's a bit betwixt, get the fiance out of the way, and the whole thing will be fixed

Dwell on that. The rock troll king then tells Ana that only true love will save her, and Kristof and Ana race off to find Hans. it is at this point i claim that the rock troll grandpa uses his powerful magic to turn Hans into the heel that he inexplicably becomes in his very next scene with Ana.

Then Hans is defeated, debased, and sent off in chains in the belly of a ship bound for a life in prison. Ana, meanwhile, ends up with Kristof, just as the rock trolls had intended.

Thus the movie is in fact a tragedy starring Hans, a victim of capricious forces bigger than he, made all the more tragic by the fact that inattentive audiences inevitably view his misfortune as comeuppance

posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:27 AM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


If the trolls were that good at causing mental change you would think they'd have made Anna's parents suck less at the control-your-fear stuff. A fun theory but I think Hans exhibits douchecanoe tendencies when working up a lynch mob to go get Anna.
posted by phearlez at 8:38 AM on June 23, 2015


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