‘She said let’s keep it professional’: Preciously precocious toddler refuses to call her parents mom and dad, insists on using their first names

Any parent will tell you that there are few things as fulfilling in this life as having a child, but there are downsides to welcoming a little human into your home.

Those downsides don’t come close to outweighing the joy of watching a child grow into a tiny adult, but parents like TikToker Kayla M. (@kaylam_0216) and her husband know just how difficult a tiny tot can be. Their toddler recently discovered a hill she’s more than willing to die on, and “Kayla and Glenn” may have no choice but to accept their new reality.

That’s after their stubborn toddler decided to ditch the typical terms with which children refer to their parents (See: Mom and Dad) in favor of more adult terminology. She’s determined to call her ‘rents by their first names, and it seems no amount of convincing will change her mind. According to the obstinate little one, “its not fun” to use those everyday titles, and she’d far prefer to simply ditch the familial formalities and skip straight to casual terms.

While her own parents may find their eloquent child’s insistence on informality irritating, viewers found it equal parts charming and astonishing, given the sassy youngster’s excellent grasp of language. She sounds closer to 15 than five, and that fact, more than anything, became the focus in the comment section.

“I’m intimidated by her articulated ways,” one commenter admitted, alongside dozens who predicted harsh teenage years in Kayla and Glenn’s future. She’s already practically a teenager now — just what will this little terror look like in ten years?

Its exceedingly common for kids to refer to their parents as “Mom and Dad” or some variation of that, depending on their parents’ gender identity and spoken language, but it’s by no means uncommon for kids to eventually push back on this trend. It even happens to kids as young as Kayla and Glenn’s wee one — and it tends to occur thanks to commonalities in their day to day lives. If your kid is hearing your first name a lot, say because of your friends, partner, parents, or siblings frequently refer to you as such, it’s natural for them to want to adopt a similar approach.

It’s also looked down on in most cultures, which see a child referring to their parent by their first name as disrespectful. Over the years the discussion has evolved, with some cultures seeing it as equalizing to allow children to refer to their parents as they please, and in some cases a clear divide has been drawn. Some areas of the world are harshly against the trend, while others embrace it wholeheartedly.

In our precocious prepubescent’s case, it seems to have more to do with simple intrigue. She’s clearly an intelligent child — just listen to her speak — so its reasonable to think that she’s simply pushing boundaries a bit earlier than other kids, but she’s not likely to win this battle. At the end of the day, mom and dad are still in charge — for another decade and then some, it looks like — so no matter how much she pushes back, it seems Kayla and Glenn are out of the running, at least for now.