Adam And Danielle Busby Just Made Another Tough Decision About Riley
The last two seasons of TLC's OutDaughtered have seen some big changes for the Busby family, but one of the biggest changes involved just one quintuplet — Riley. Season 4 saw Adam and Danielle faced with the decision of whether or not to move Riley up a grade ahead of her sisters in preschool — something that would obviously affect the whole family.
Ultimately, after testing so highly in her preschool class, viewers saw Adam and Danielle make the decision to move Riley up to an advanced class, leaving siblings Parker Kate, Ava Lane, Olivia Marie, and Hazel Grace behind. Of course, the show isn't filmed live, and in real time, Riley has since skipped pre-K altogether to head to kindergarten solo, a move that brought parent-shamers out in droves to criticize the Busbys' decision for their daughter.
Allowing Riley to skip a grade wasn't an easy decision
Danielle and Adam sat down with People in September after the news of Riley moving to kindergarten broke. "As the quints get older, they're becoming individuals with their own struggles, likes, dislikes and opinions," Danielle said. "In the instance of letting Riley move up before her sisters, that was based strictly on her." The OutDaughtered matriarch went on to further explain their decision, saying, "Riley's above and beyond with her intelligence. 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."
Parent-shamers were relentless on the Busbys' Instagram post that announced Riley would in fact be skipping a grade ahead of her sisters, and though the family has been in the spotlight for a few years now, all that criticism still isn't easy to swallow. "It's crazy," Adam admitted. "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."
Riley is thriving in kindergarten
For her part, Riley seems to be loving her solo kindergarten experience. Dad Adam took to Instagram to update fans after her first day of school, posting a picture of a fast-asleep Riley captioned, "First day of kindergarten in the books and she CRUSHED it! So incredibly proud of this little kid. When she wants something, there is nothing going to stand in her way and she is right at home forging her own path. My MIGHTY pint sized princess is going to be something great one day."
As great as Riley is doing, however, she might not continue on this path ahead of her sisters. Adam explained in a YouTube video on the girls' first day of school that the family will have to make another decision at the end of the year as to whether Riley will repeat kindergarten with her siblings, or move up to first grade on her own. "She's been blowing our minds with how smart she is... we're not going to hold her back... but it's just going to leave us with a big decision to make at the end of this year," he said.
The next big decision for the Busbys revolves around Riley's nap time
Rewind a bit back to the current season of OutDaughtered, where Riley is thriving in her advanced preschool class, but there's one more big decision for the Busbys to make about their daughter (via CheatSheet). "Riley's doing fantastic. Fantastic. She absolutely loves school, and you should be ultra proud," preschool owner Randi told Adam and Danielle in the latest episode. What came next, though, left Riley's parents a bit shell-shocked. "The rest of her class, they're 5-year-olds, and they don't nap anymore. So Riley wants to know why she has to be the only kid in her class napping," Randi explained.
"The thought of Riley not taking naps at school is scary," Danielle confessed to the camera, "but I don't want her to feel isolated in her own classroom." Adam and Danielle also reasoned that if one quint wasn't napping, that meant no quints would be napping, a prospect Danielle lamented.
But that didn't stop the Busbys from ripping off the Band-Aid, and putting an end to nap time for Riley and her sisters. Adam and Danielle tried to implement "quiet time" instead, which unsurprisingly turned into five screaming kids jumping on their beds. While life with quintuplets is always on the chaotic side, who knew having Riley move up a class would have such a domino effect on the whole family?