Who doesn't love a little love from your kids? As far as we're concerned, cuddling with our children is one of the best parts of parenting, but recently a dad had the internet up in arms after he noted that his wife and in-laws told him it was inappropriate for him to cuddle his teen. Miffed, the dad told them off and stormed out of the room, but now he's wondering if they had a point.
The drama started when the writer's 15-year-old daughter curled up next to her dad.
The father of three wrote on Reddit that recently his teen was "bored out of her mind" while the family was watching a movie and decided to snuggle up next to him to try to get some sleep.
"After the movie was over, we sent all the kids to bed/their rooms and got chatting for a bit longer," he wrote. "There was a fair bit of wine involved (I was sober though), and eventually after a short silence my Father-in-Law let it drop that he thought it was inappropriate I still cuddled with my 15yo."
Confused, the dad wrote that he was prepared to laugh off his FIL's comment, assuming that perhaps he had had too much to drink. "To my surprise, my wife and MIL both agreed with him," he continued.
"I have a lot of respect for my in-laws, I get along with them great and I consider them closer than my own parents. Obviously I'm quite fond of my wife as well, but I outright told them to "(expletive) off and go (expletive) themselves" and then left them and went to bed," he wrote.
He later wrote that he and his daughter were not spooning: "[S]he was sitting next to me laying on my chest."
"I've never spoken to any of them like that before, but it felt like the right thing to say in the moment," he added. "They all want me to apologize for being so rude to them."
But was he really so wrong to tell them to take a hike?
Most people seemed to agree: His wife and in-laws were being really weird about this whole thing.
Online many people thought that there was nothing wrong with cuddling your kid.
"The implications of what they're suggesting are horrendous. You cuddle your damn kid," one commenter wrote. "It's lovely that she feels so comfortable with you. They're projecting their own disgusting thoughts and it's (expletive). You shouldn't be apologizing to them, they should be apologizing to you for the implication."
And someone else warned him to keep the situation quiet. "Please, don’t ever tell your daughter that they said this," the commenter advised. "It will devastate her and potentially cause a wedge in your relationship. Because it’s a non-issue between you and her, keep it a non-issue."
"It’s a cuddle, not a fondle. Just because they are making it sexual doesn’t mean you or your daughter are," a third person commented.
But at least one person thought that maybe they had a point.
"Three people you respect told you something seems off," one person wrote in the comments. "They may be wrong, but getting defensive and telling them to '(expletive) Off' seems like you aren't even willing to consider their view point. If it seems inappropriate to three people who love you and your daughter… you owe it to yourself, your daughter and them to consider the optics on this."
The dad later updated his post and shared that after discussing the issue with his family, he's decided not keep talking about his problem online.
"I've been speaking to them over the past few days and I know why they said what they said (although it's not relevant to me telling them to ((expletive) off), but it's pretty personal and I don't feel like sharing," he wrote. "I wont be apologizing to any of them, especially now that I know their reasoning. I love my wife, but it hurts that she doesn't trust me."
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