The Busbys Are Being Parent-Shamed For Letting One Quint Skip A Grade
The backlash since OutDaughtered's Danielle and Adam Busby revealed that their daughter, Riley, is going to skip a grade has been intense. The decision was made after the quints took an exam at preschool and Riley scored unusually high.
Danielle announced that Riley would be skipping pre-K in an Instagram post on August 19. The family snapshot showed the quints with their big sister dressed up for the first day of school. "First day of school!" reads the caption. "Blayke 3rd grade. Riley kindergarten. Ava, Olivia, Hazel, and Parker upper rotation Pre-K. Let your light shine bright girls!"
The criticism of their decision was swift, and Adam defended it in the comments of the post, writing, "It was a learning experience for us and it's been positive since we chose to separate them. There ain't a manual for raising quints... We are making the best decision that we can with the information and intuition that we have as their parents."
In spite of the sensible response, the backlash against the OutDaughtered parents has continued. The TLC stars are standing strong and continuing to defend themselves from the parent shamers who have been slamming their decision. "Riley's above and beyond with her intelligence," Danielle told People on September 9. "Knowing where she's at right now, this was our decision based on her. Of course we looked at the family and how this change affects everyone else."
Even though you'd think they'd be used to criticism by now, the Busbys are still shocked when they get comments judging them. "It's crazy," said Adam. "And I don't know what it is. Is it just to mask one's own insecurities so they can have this persona online that they have everything together if they shame another mom? It's really bizarre."
He added that most parents can't possibly relate to what the Busbys are going through since, in all likelihood, they aren't parents of quints themselves — according to Verywell Family, quintuplets account for 1 in 60 million births, and single sex quints are even more rare.
"In world history, there have only been six parents who have dealt with raising all-girl quintuplets," said Adam. "There's nobody out there who knows the intricacy of the decisions we make. It's just crazy that somebody out there is criticizing us about something they have no idea about."