Scott Stuart, a 36-year-old dad and creative from Australia is winning at fatherhood. His 6-year-old son, Colin is obsessed with Disney’s Frozen and is really into Elsa. Stuart says his son “loved everything about her.” Which we find no fault in!
Colin adores Elsa so much that he even wanted to dress like the princess. Instead of being put off by his son’s request to dress as a Disney princess, Stuart fully supported his son. He even dressed in an Elsa costume himself to take his boy to go see Frozen 2. Now, a video of the two decked out in Elsa attire has gone viral.
Colin’s Frozen fandom started when he was just 3-years-old.
When Frozen first came out, Colin was just 3-years-old and fell instantly in love with Elsa. Stuart, a graphic designer, and children’s book author told CafeMom that his son was in awe of the animated film and “fell in love with Queen Elsa.”
“He loved everything about her, and of course, wanted every toy and costume available,” Stuart said.
Stuart even purchased his son an Elsa doll “that he was so proud of.”
“He would take it everywhere and show it to everyone.”
As the little boy aged, he received pushback from classmates who told him that Elsa wasn’t meant for boys.
Stuart said told CafeMom that Colin returned from preschool one day and was sad “because someone said that Elsa was for girls.”
Now, toys are toys. Characters are characters and there’s no need to police children’s interests because of their gender. Seeing his son so upset by the idea that he couldn’t love Elsa because he was a boy was something that Stuart could not accept.
“That day I resolved that I would always support the things that he loves, even if they challenged my (or society’s) expectations of him,” Stuart said. “Since then, he has loved a whole lot of traditionally male characters like Batman and Spider-Man, but his favorite characters are princesses and queens like Elsa, Anna, Belle, and Rapunzel.”
Then, Colin asked his dad if he could wear an Elsa costume to go see Frozen 2.
At this point, Colin was 6-years-old and he’d voiced his desire to wear the Elsa costume to see Frozen 2 many times.
“But as we got closer to the date, he starting expressing that he was afraid people might laugh at him,” Stuart explained.
Stuart used the opportunity as a teaching moment.
“I feel that in a moment like that, we can either teach our kids to run away from who they are and what they love to try and please other people or teach them to have the courage to be themselves,” he said.
“We chose to teach him to be himself.”
In order to practice what he preached, Stuart decided he’d also dress in costume for the movie.
The gesture bolstered Colin’s confidence and Stuart explained that his son “absolutely loved it.”
“It became an adventure we were planning for weeks and he had the time of his life,” he added. “The reactions from people at the cinema were overwhelmingly positive, with other dads coming up and telling me they wished they had done the same, that it was awesome, etc.”
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Colin shared a video of himself and his son in costume and it’s since gone viral.
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♬ Show Yourself – Frozen 2 – The Blue Notes
Stuart created a video and uploaded it to TikTok. The TikTok of the pair in full Elsa costume went viral and has been seen by over 16 million people.
The video shows Stuart explaining that his “son wanted to dress as Elsa to go to the cinema…” in a caption.
“I said there’s no way you’re doing that,” the caption continues, “Alone…”
Then, the video cuts to both Colin and Stuart dressed as Elsa on their way to the cinema.
Stuart hopes that the video inspires others to be courageous.
“People could look at this video and see a child having the courage to be themselves, and know that if they have to courage to do the same, there will be someone who will stand with them, too.”
In addition to encouraging children to be their authentic selves, he also wants to encourage dads to be brave for their boys. He said that most dads will do anything for their sons, “except for things that will make people laugh at them or judge their masculinity.”
“This video is there to break the ice for other Dads. I’ve done it, you can do it too,” he said.
Stuart understands that people might not understand or judge the move.
Stuart said that people might laugh, “But at the end of the day, I think that supporting your child and letting them shine as brightly as they can in who they are is completely worth it.”
This might be true, but fans online have had the opposite reaction. Stuart said he’s received thousands of messages from parents with little boys who enjoy playing with dolls and dressing as female characters.
“There has been one element that has been quite emotional, that has been the complete disconnect between parents and children,” he told CafeMom. “There are so many parents telling me that they would never let their boys dress up as female characters, but at the same time, so many kids (and adults) telling me that they wished their parents would (or would have) accepted them, and in the case of the adults reaching out, that lack of acceptance caused them not to accept themselves for a very long time.”
Stuart hopes his video can help change that.
“I’m hoping this video and our story will help other families navigate acceptance – accepting themselves and accepting their children for who THEY are.”
What an incredible dad with an inspiring message of acceptance for other parents and their children.
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