A US blogger and father of a "wild child" is trying to remove the stigma parents face for putting their children on a leash in public.
Clint Edwards, who runs the blog No Idea What I'm Doing, says he often receives dirty looks, but can't win either way.
"The real difficulty with having a wild child is that you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't", Mr Edwards posted to Facebook, alongside a photo of his daughter on a leash.
"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 center parking lot, unattended. She could be the child climbing into the tiger cage."
Mr Edwards says he can't keep up with Aspen because she "moves faster than any Olympian".
"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 [keeping] this kid safe while maintaining my piece of mind, and that is 100 percent worth it.'"
But the Oregon dad wasn't met with criticism. An outpouring of support quickly topped the comments section.
"I used to be pretty judgy about those things. Then I had kids. Keep on keepin' on, man," one commenter wrote, receiving more than 3000 likes.
"This is a different world we're living in & I'd much rather see a child tethered to a backpack any day than lost or abducted," another added, which was also liked by thousands of people.
Mr Edwards says he'll take his child off of the leash when she calms down.
"But until that day comes, I'm going to do whatever I can to keep her out of danger."
Newshub.
