Princeton quintuplets celebrate Sweet 16

PRINCETON, Ind. (WFIE) - In February of 2007, the Tri-State fell in love with five babies, born three months premature, to Rob and Emily Wright.

[Previous story: 14 News checks in with Wright quints]

The Wright quintuplets spent some time in the NICU before coming home with their parents.

On Wednesday, Sydney, Jenna, Ethan, Landon and Peyton Wright turned 16.

Suddenly having five babies to care for was a shock for the parents. Perhaps realizing you have to teach five teenagers to drive might be a bigger one.

“It was definitely more obvious when we were younger, and now it’s kind of like we’re branching out, we’re not together as much anymore, so it’s not as obvious,” Landon said.

There’s no avoiding your siblings when you’re a quint. The boys share a bedroom downstairs, the girls are together upstairs. Now that they’re 16, soon they’ll start sharing a car, too.

“We get our licenses in May,” Ethan said. “My dad just have the boys his truck. The girls they got a Chevy spark. It’s lime green and we call it the green bean.”

“You have to get five hours of each kid driving for insurance, 40 hours for the state,” Rob said. “So that’s 200 hours in with the permit, and that’s been very challenging.”

Despite the added attention of being a quint, life is pretty typical for the Wrights at home.

“Most nights they cook for us,” Jenna said. “Sometimes it’s a free for all.”

Cooking for seven every night is just one challenge. Keeping the house clean is another. Emily has a detailed chore chart for every week of the year to stay organized.

Now as freshmen in high school, the Wright children are taking up their own hobbies and interests.

“There’s somebody everywhere all the time, so when I get to school, I have my own classes. I get to be me,” Peyton said. “I do love them, though. you always have a friend and someone to talk to.”

“I can’t do anything without them,” Sydney said. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, maybe one of them would know what they’re doing.”

16 years removed from the day their family tripled in size, mom and dad are preparing for another, much different kind of shock.

“When they actually are gone, I’m gonna have to stay busy, or I’m not gonna do well probably,” Emily said. “It’s gonna be a shock for me.”

The quints held their official birthday party on Sunday by having family come to the house.

On Wednesday, after a day of school, the quints went off to track practice. All five are runners on the Princeton Community High School team.

Their life has been lived in front of the camera since before they even knew they were famous. In three years’ time, those same NICU babies will be walking across the stage, graduating from high school.

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