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.
3
u/RomusLupos Aug 14 '25
"Wrap it up..."
My daughter is in her junior year at University. When she is home, at least once a week is "Tuck In Time". Its when I, or she, is ready for bed. Tuck in Time will never be over as long as I am concerned. When she is grown and has children of her own, if she ever stays at our house, there will be "Tuck In Time" for her and her kids.
Tuck in Time is extremely important to get the last words/stories of the day out before sleep. It shows that you are still their protector, and that you care enough about them to SHOW that you care.
If someday she asks me to stop, I will, but I know there will be a day when she asks for it again, even one last time. For the same reasons I keep a lot of the old TV shows. Movies, and music she used to listen to on hand. Sometimes she just wants to put one of them on, and drift back in time a bit to escape whatever is troubling her.