Mom's Brilliant Non-Binary Nickname Solution Should Be Required Reading

Here's the hope I think most parents might (or should) have for their kids: that they know themselves. That they like themselves. That they feel accepted and included and, perhaps above almost everything else, truly seen. Especially by the people who love them most in the world; us. The parents. It's not always easy, I know. Especially when you are accustomed to seeing your child one way for most of their lives and then they tell you they are someone else and the best parents embrace that person. Like this mom, whose brilliant non-binary nickname solution when her child came out as gender-neutral is so sweet and loving and accepting and yes, even a little funny, I'm pretty sure we all hope she adopts us.

Social media user Karuna shared a text from their mom recently on Twitter that has the internet collectively clasping our hands to our hearts in utter delight. It seems, as Karuna explains, that their mom has been calling her "baby girl" since they can remember. But since they came out as non-binary, they have been experimenting with gender neutral ways to adapt that term of endearment that makes sense for them both.

I think you will agree they nailed it.

Their mom sent a text that read:

Hey baby goat - how's today? Thinking of you - waiting for Laurel for her birthday dinner.

First of all, can we all just agree that no matter how you identify "baby goat" is the most loving, adorable, perfect term of endearment to ever exist and if my boyfriend doesn't start calling me this immediately it's over?

Twitter just loved this, of course, with many people praising this mom for getting it right when it comes to honoring her non-binary child by keeping a part of their history alive in a way that is more inclusive.

There were also some social media users who, like myself, took a moment to figure out that a baby goat is actually a kid and that's what she is calling her kid. Slow claps of admiration all around.

As the world continues to hopefully move towards acceptance and inclusion, the way we refer to each other continues to evolve. The Tumblr page Gender Queeries offers an amazing guide to pronouns and titles, but what about terms of endearment? Because, just as this mother called her child "baby girl" out of love, don't we all have a way of addressing our children through nicknames?

In fact, some people took to this Twitter feed to share some of their own creative non-binary terms of endearment, even if they didn't always start out as intentionally gender-neutral.

This post doesn't just offer fun and creative ways to address the people you love without attaching gender to the equation. It's an important reminder that parents are meant to want the most happiness for their children they can possibly hold. We are meant to want them to be exactly who they are and celebrate that every single day.

Because deep down we're all baby goats.