If you think being a mother is demanding (and it most certainly is), just look at Dayna Childress’s life. She is the mother of quadruplets who are both two and five years old. She has a lot on her plate, and she’s used social media to share her experience.
She has five children, the oldest of whom is 29 years old. Quadruplets’ first year: an extreme sport! The protagonist is a young woman from Ohio in the United States whose life completely changed after becoming pregnant for the second time.
Dayna Childress married her high school love and had her first child at a young age. The couple gave birth to a kid called Lincoln in 2015. Dayna and her husband decided it was time for their second kid 9 months after Dayna gave birth so that the age gap between the two would not be too great. But for reasons she still isn’t sure of today, three pregnancies happened “in a row.
Dayna began undergoing ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ for a year, and after completing it came the good news. She was finally pregnant with not one, but four babies! Lincoln now has three younger brothers (Simon, Willis, Otto) and a sister (Willow), all born ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇʟʏ at almost 29 weeks, weighing 1.3-1.4 kg each. Dayna has now gained global fame by posting gorgeous clips on TikTok and Instagram, capturing the chaotic life that comes with so many toddlers.
In one particularly honest post, the busy stay-at-home mum runs through her day. While the routine appears to be familiar, the number of children she looks after is unusual, giving us a glimpse into how exhausting her life must be.
“So here is my day in the life with quadruplets and a 5-year-old,” she begins. While that’s enough to make anyone feel instantly tired, she goes on to explain how the morning unfolds. “My husband makes the coffee in the morning, and I make the kids’ breakfast so it’s ready to go before they’re up,” she says. “I wake up my five-year-old, who helps me wake up the quadruplets, and my husband has long gone to work by now,”
From there, they all come downstairs, change nappies, have breakfast, and have a bit of playtime. Dayna heats up her “now-cold coffee,” gives the kids a snack, and changes their outfits. “There’s usually a tantrum,” she continues, “And the house is destroyed.”
All this, and we’re only halfway through the day.
Dayna goes on to explain how it’s then time for naps and she has a (very small) window of ‘me time’ before making lunch. “Then they’re back downstairs for diaper changes and their lunch,” she says. “They play some more, then we take them outside, then another snack; usually another tantrum by this point.”
At least when it comes to the evening meal, Dayna takes a well-deserved short cut. “I order dinner out because I’m too tired.”
After that, it’s time for bed, at least until the next day when Dayna does it all over again.
The post brought about a huge response from TikTok viewers, with around 830,000 likes and over 10,000 comments. Many viewers simply could not imagine caring for multiple toddlers. Viewers had nothing but admiration and respect for the busy mom. “You make it look so easy!!! You’re doing great mom!
As they began to grow, the family began to go out more and more, with the new car being more spacious than the one used when the family consisted of only three members. They enjoyed a full-fledged beach day for the first time, and it was an adventure for them from the time they left the house to the time they returned.
