Dad explains why he keeps his toddler on a leash, it goes viral
Keeping a toddler on a leash isn’t without its controversy.
Which one dad, Clint Edwards, is more than aware of – but he does it anyway.
And his explanation as to why, which he recently shared on his Facebook page No Idea What I’m Doing: A Daddy Blog, has gone viral – because it’s just so relatable.
He describes how he recently put his daughter Aspen on one to visit a farmer’s market – despite getting “dirty looks from strangers” – and why he does without embarrassment.
“We were at the farmers market. No shame. I put this kid on a leash,” he wrote on Saturday.
“She’s a wild child, and this thing has already kept her out of the road and from sticking her hand in an ice cream machine, along with keeping me sane.”
He then explains how the difficulty of having an adventurous child is that “you are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t”:
“Because the fact is, if I didn’t put Aspen on a leash while at amusement parks, the zoo, a crowded mall, or the farmers market, she’d be the lost child announced over the intercom.
“She’d be the kid popping up in every Facebook feed for wandering into a shopping centre parking lot, unattended.
“She could be the child climbing into the tiger cage. Because I can’t, for the life of me, keep her from moving.
“Her curiosity is incredible, and for only having a 12 inch stride, she moves faster than any Olympian.”
And he says despite other people judging him, it’s totally worth doing so.
“Sure, I get dirty looks from strangers,” he continues. “In fact, I’ll probably get some ‘I’m the perfect parent and this is why you suck’ comments on this post.
“And to you I say this, ‘I’m keep this kid safe while maintaining my piece of mind, and that is 100% worth it’.
“Because the reality is she’ll calm down. She’ll figure it out, because all kids do.
“But until that day comes, I’m going to do whatever I can to keep her out of danger, even if it means a leash.”
And the post has definitely struck a chord with other parents, having received more than 12,000 reactions and comments from parents who’ve had similar experiences:
“I used to be pretty judgy about those things. Then I had kids,” commenter Kirstin wrote.
“Keep on keepin’ on, man.”
Another said: “Until those judgemental people have a runner or as you describe a child with a wild streak, they will never understand.
“Parents of truly spirited children just get it, no explanation needed.”
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