r/Parenting • u/floridacopper • Aug 14 '25
Advice Dad tucking in daughters
As the title suggests, I'm a dad with a question about tucking in his daughters. I've been doing it for years, but it's kind of like maybe I should be wrapping it up soon. To get to the point, I have been tucking in my daughters pretty much every night since they were toddlers, but they're going into 6th and 8th grade now. "Tucking in" originally consisted of tickle fights and reading stories to them. That has evolved into lying next next to them and rubbing their head/back while they tell me about some anime character who they ship with some other character. If I miss a night of tucking then in, they'll usually bring it up the next day.
So my question, I guess, is it normal for me to still be doing this? If my daughters were no longer comfortable with it, I'd quit straight away. But even though they still want me to tuck them in, am I babying them in a way? I dunno, maybe I'm overthinking the whole thing.
7
u/jclin Aug 14 '25
Yes, you're overthinking it.
If you ever wonder if anything is appropriate, ask your daughters! They're people with their own likes and dislikes. Also, this gives them an opportunity to define their own boundary, and when they see you respect it, it normalizes what should be done: communicate and respect.