A California mom of two has shared footage of her husband sneaking their son out of preschool minutes after they had arrived.
Jenny Ho, from Orange County, posted the video on TikTok with the text, “Watching your soft husband sneak our son out of preschool at the first sign of a tear when he thought I wasn’t looking.”
“I sighed but also laughed because it’s totally on-brand with my husband to do that,” Ho told Newsweek. “He’s a tough negotiator when it comes to work and for his clients, but when it comes to our kids, he’s a total softy. We’re a good balance, as I usually try to stick to the routines and push them to do hard things.”
Ho said that she and her husband, Wilson, have adopted a “very open and empathetic style of parenting,” adding, “We earn respect as much as we expect respect from them.”
The couple isn’t alone in adopting this approach. In 2023, a YouGov poll of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 46 percent of respondents considered gentle parenting to be effective.
Though 75 percent of respondents ranked an authoritative approach as the best option, it’s clear that the way kids are being brought up today is changing. However, the gentle approach is not without its challenges.
Ho’s son recently started preschool, a significant transition for any child but especially so in his case. As Ho puts it, he was a “pandemic baby”—born during a time of lockdown and social restrictions. Ho is immunocompromised, so the couple had to take extra care and has continued to do so. That, coupled with their work, has helped foster an incredible closeness within their family unit.
“My husband and I both work from home running our business so have been lucky to always be around and at home with our kids,” Ho said. “We’re always out and about with family and friends, but because we don’t have a need for a sitter frequently, he is just used to always being around us.”
That’s made the move to preschool a little challenging. “His first day at school went relatively well with minimal tears, but as you know, the second day is always the hardest when reality sinks in for them,” Ho said. “He had a hard time letting go of us, and because I started tearing up, I said my goodbyes and walked out of the classroom so he wouldn’t see me upset.”
Ho thought she wouldn’t see their son again for the rest of the school day. However, her husband had other ideas, as she quickly discovered. “This is a new school for us, and I didn’t realize the door automatically locks when closed, so I was stuck outside, and when minutes passed without a sign of my husband coming out, I knew he was having a hard time letting go, too,” Ho said.
A screenshot of a TikTok video Jenny Ho posted, which shows the moment her husband and son made a run for it. The couple’s son is adjusting to life at preschool.
@findingjen/TikTok
“My daughter’s school is next door, and I noticed they were at recess, so I walked over to see if I could spot her since I was waiting for my husband. A couple minutes later, I turned back toward the preschool and caught those two running off to the car.”
Ho was quick to film their escape, and the footage has subsequently gone viral on TikTok, where she posts under the handle @findingjen. It has been watched more than 2.3 million times.
She said their son spent the day playing with his excavator trucks and was later treated to ice cream. Though it might not have gone to plan, the couple was happy to take a more patient approach to their son’s integration into the classroom.
“He’s a little more reserved and shy so takes a little longer to warm up to new environments and new people,” Ho said. It’s an approach that has paid off. Their son is now in school and “has been fine.”
Ho added: “He’s doing good. Enjoying school, making friends.”
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