'I’m Going a Little Bonkers!' Find Out Why Tony Winner Idina Menzel Is Like All Quarantined Parents Right Now

Leaning over her kitchen counter and futzing with her cell phone on The Rosie O’Donnell Show benefit for The Actors Fund, Idina Menzel—sans makeup and gorgeous as usual—served up the frazzled energy many parents are feeling while staying at home with kids during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I guess I’m going a little bonkers,” the Frozen 2 star laughed. “Welcome to the club,” O’Donnell replied. There are millions of us, I think.”

What’s exasperating the beloved star of Rent, Wicked and Frozen? With schools closed, her 10-year-old son (with ex-husband Taye Diggs), Walker, is home. Menzel said she related to the popular video of an Israeli mom losing it about being quarantined with school-age children. “It’s so on the nose for me,” Menzel exclaimed. “Fractions is what I’ve been asked to work on with my son recently. I don’t know how to break it down and do the math the way it’s being taught these days. He gets angry, and he just thinks we’re so stupid. It’s so much pressure to home school!”

To fill the long days cooped up, Menzel “rebounded 400 basketballs” with her son and is trying to expand her cooking repertoire beyond pancakes. Meanwhile, not everyone appreciates the vocal gymnastics she performs as Elsa in Frozen 2. “He’s conflicted about it,” the Tony winner said about her son’s reaction to the blockbuster film. She went on to explain that Walker wrote an essay from the perspective of a squirrel for a school assignment that included the warning, “Be careful because you don’t want those stupid Elsa lunch boxes to hit you!” Menzel laughed and added, “He’s denigrating my life’s work!”

Life with opinionated youngsters can be a challenge, but all is not lost on Menzel’s son. “When he was in his music class, before school closed, the teacher asked all the kids to raise their hands and say who’s a singer they really love,” she said, “and he said, 'My mom.' So, even though he pretends to be against this girly Elsa person, he appreciates it.”

Watch the exchange between Menzel and O’Donnell below, and don’t forget to donate to The Actors Fund.