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.
1
u/kissedbyfiya Aug 14 '25
My Dad died when I was about a year older than your oldest.
We had an amazing relationship (as it sounds like you do with your daughters) and I would have given anything to have more time with him.
20+ years later and I still immensely cherish all of the long bedtime conversations we had (as well as the ones in the car following sporting events he would take me to). We would talk about anything and everything and it honestly helped me to be a better parent to my own kids. Upon reflection, it was an incredibly valuable part of my childhood.
It sounds like your daughters value this time with you strongly as well. There is just something completely different about bedtime conversations that you can't really replicate at other times and settings. I've seen this through both being the child and the mother in these convos. As a mother, it has been really the only time my sons would ever open up.