Our summer babysitter, the Disney star

Moana of Motunui has been our saviour this summer.
David Patterson with daughter Eilidh Patterson, wife Lynn Patterson and son Rory Patterson.David Patterson with daughter Eilidh Patterson, wife Lynn Patterson and son Rory Patterson.
David Patterson with daughter Eilidh Patterson, wife Lynn Patterson and son Rory Patterson.

Eilidh has gone nowhere without her Disney hero.

If she was glum, Moana was there to cheer her up.

If we needed peace for five minutes, Moana babysat.

Moana has frequently been used as a bribe to combat stubbornness.

“You want to watch Moana? You need to brush your teeth, or eat your veg, or tidy up”.

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Eilidh sang her heart out to the soundtrack during the day-long thunderstorm that trapped us in our holiday caravan in France.

READ DAVID’S JULY COLUMN HERE

We cried with laughter on long car journeys, the comedy chicken character creating bouts of infectious giggling from Eilidh.

She re-enacted her favourite scenes from the movie with aplomb, rolling around in front of confused tourists at dinner time, having a brilliant time to herself.

Moana has literally been her soul mate.

Very much like her big brother, Eilidh maintains a narrow but very deep addiction to one thing at a time.

The kind of repetition that drives parents round the bend.

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For Rory it was Thomas the Tank Engine (the song drove me mad), then Peppa Pig (Peppa is an annoying little pig), then Spongebob Squarepants (which is actually quite funny).

Eilidh does the same but it feels more intense with her. I swear you can see the outline of the Moana title burned on the screen of my new TV. Sky have actually banned me from downloading it on the iPad she has watched it that often and my Spotify no longer suggests Pearl Jam or Metallica for me, its recommendation engine has been compromised and sullied by Disney songs.

READ DAVID’S JUNE COLUMN HERE

If you haven’t seen it, you should, even if you are not a kid. It is an excellent movie. But when you’ve watched it for the 18th time that week, the soundtrack has played from dusk til dawn and you wake because it haunts your dreams, you know it’s time for Moana rehab.

Cold turkey Moana.

Saying that, we’ve hit that point where significant investment has been made on Moana merchandise for the start of school so we actually need to keep it going for a bit longer. And besides, Halloween is not that far away now so at least one of the kids will be sorted for a costume.

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There is definitely some parental guilt in allowing the indulgence but sometimes mum and dad need a holiday too.

Moana, thank you for looking after my girl for me this summer, I couldn’t have done it without you.

“You’re Welcome!”