Father Of Quintuplets Sparks Discussion About Whether Leashing His Kids Is Acceptable
The odds of having multiple children at once are rather small. A family has multiple children at once around every three in 100 births. The odds of having quintuplets? Well, that’s a way bigger odd. Families with five quintuplets are about one in 60 million.
Jordan Driskell is a young father of five children. As his same-age children grew from babies into young children, the father realized how hard parenting could be, especially with multiple children. During family outings, the Driskell family would use a 6-seat stroller to seat and move the quintuplets. After some time, the Driskells realized that the big and bulky stroller was not going to last much longer due to the children being unsettled while all were sitting in the stroller. The stroller also added stress because of its inconvenience.
During one outing to the aquarium in August 2022, the father posted a video of the family’s new way of handling all of their young children during family outings. Rather than using their 6-seat stroller, Driskell’s new method to handle his quintuplets while out adventuring was using a leash to wrangle his crazy kiddos while out.
Driskell posted a video and the internet had quite a lot to say about the dad’s choice. The video showed Driskell walking with his kids — Zoey, Dakota, Hollyn, Asher and Gavin, with all five children attached to a leash. Posting to his Instagram page, the father was shamed for the choice of using a leash. The viral Instagram video of Driskell and his five children has millions of views and many comments.
In an interview with Today Parents, Driskell shared that using the 6-seat stroller became too much of a drag. “It was just too bulky and ridiculous to take anywhere,” the quintuplet dad shared. He shared that when he switched to using a leash, the kids had more freedom to run.
“The other thing is, they want to walk when we go somewhere crowded,” the dad said. “A leash gives them the opportunity to do that — but we’re still in control. They love it,” Driskell said.
The busy dad also admitted that using the leash gives the whole family more freedom.“For our own peace of mind and sanity, we use a leash,” Driskell shared.” It also allows us to leave the house and do fun stuff as a family without being stressed,” he said.
The father’s post read, “Come walk a mile in my shoes #dadsofinstagram #fatherhood #DadSquad #moms #momsofinstagram #viralreels #motherhood #kids #Parents #parenting #parenthood #DriskellQuints”
Some people weren’t impressed with Driskell’s choice to use a leash. As per Today, people said, “They are humans not dogs,” and: “Can’t you just train your children well? Explain to them why it’s dangerous to run away?” Yet another wrote:
“Don’t have that many kids if you can’t handle the pressure.”
But others agreed with the family’s choice to switch from a stroller to a leash. Driskell’s popular post has nearly 7000 comments.
One Instagram user wrote, “Theres nothing wrong with this i think its brilliant i always used baby harness with reigns on my 2 so they wer always by me ❤️👏 x”
Another person said, “Better safe than sorry. If I had that many I would do the same. Rock on!!!❤️” One internet user said that Driskell’s choice in using a leash was actually very responsible parenting with so many children. “With 5 kids you need that 👏 responsible parenting right here,” they wrote.
