Photo: drixxleman/Instagram
It's either leash them or never leave the house, but many were outraged by the move.
By John Sundholm — Written on Mar 04, 2023
Ask anyone who's done it even for just an hour or two — wrangling even one single toddler is not for the faint of heart.
They're by their very nature squirrelly, curious, and poised to bolt the very moment something catches their eye or you try to stop them from, say, running into the street to be squashed by a garbage truck or something.
Now imagine having to manage this for twin toddlers. Is your blood pressure up? Mine, too. But that's nothing compared to what one dad on TikTok has to contend with.
He has quintuplets — that's FIVE chaotic toddlers — and his method of managing them has caused quite the controversy.
TikTok dad Jordan Driskell wrangles his toddler quintuplets by putting them on leashes.
Driskell is a dad and rapper in Kentucky whose quintuplets, daughters Zoey Hart, Dakota Faith, and Hollyn Grace, and sons Asher Blaze and Gavin Lane, were born in 2017.
It all began with a video that some have found hilarious and adorable and others have found egregious.
The video shows Driskell, known as @drixxleman on TikTok, walking his five kids through a public place on a series of tethers, similar to how a dog-walker would wrangle five dogs.
The tykes seem perfectly fine with it if maybe a little bit stymied as far as their desire to run off like toddlers tend to do.
"I never wanted to get child leashes," Driskell's onscreen text reads, "until I had quintuplets."
Driskell explains that he leashes his five five-year-olds because "they want to run off and explore," but that didn't quell the minds of outraged netizens.
When the dad's video went viral, he received tons of angry comments shaming him for treating his quintuplets like 'dogs.'
"Those kids are way too old to be walked on a leash like a d--n dog," ranted one person on Instagram.
"Wtf are you using a f--king leash for human beings?" another angry Instagrammer demanded. "Can’t you just train your children well? Explain to them why it’s dangerous to run away."
Another person scolded, "that’s messed up. If you can’t handle that many children don’t get them in the first place."
Of course, nobody chooses to have five babies at once, it just sort of ... happens? And as Driskell has shared in other videos, his quintuplets were definitely a surprise to him and his wife!
In an interview with TODAY, after he went viral, Driskell said the leashes were purely out of necessity and nothing more.
"Kids are so curious — they want to run off and explore," he told TODAY. "For our own peace of mind and sanity, we use a leash. It also allows us to leave the house and do fun stuff as a family without being stressed."
Many parents agreed that his leashing system was an ingenious way to keep their kids safe.
"For the people complaining about the leashes, you try keeping track of 5 little kids," a mom on Instagram wrote.
"How else are you supposed to keep 5 little ones, who have zero impulse control safe?!?" another parent wondered.
Another dad commiserated with Driskell, saying, "I used to think these parents are bad until I had my own hyperactive daughter... Chasing her alone [was] exhausting."
Several parents said kid leashes are a godsend, particularly for neuro-divergent kids, with one parent writing, "dude, backpack leashes are a lifesaver. I have an autistic runner... Just one and needed [a leash] til last year."
"He's 8 now and will hold my hand [but] I couldn't imagine trying to keep up with 5 of the same age."
The viral uproar over Driskell's quintuplets' leash led to a TLC reality show and a rap song.
In a follow-up TikTok, Driskell said that the cable network known for its marriage and parenting series approached him and his wife to do a show about their quintuplets.
The Driskells and the network weren't able to agree on a direction for the show, however, so he says they declined the offer.
More successful has been Driskell's rap song "Kids On Leashes" in which he addresses the viral parent-shaming and claps back at the "Karens" angry about his kid-wrangling methods.
"I put all my kids on leashes," Driskell raps. "They say like dogs the way I treat 'em, but they're just kids, they don't listen."
Kinda slaps, to be honest. So far there has been no response from the Karens, so for now, Driskell wins this rap beef.
The non-rap-based part of this beef, of course, is a bit more complicated.
There is no shortage of people who disagree with Driskell's method and just as many who back him up.
But as for the experts, at least one is on his side. Speaking with TODAY, Dr. Deborah Gilboa applauded Driskell.
"This is creative problem-solving. This isn’t treating kids like animals. The alternative would be just staying at home."
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.