Gender neutral word for mom/dad?

[MaxsFox]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that "daddy" doesn't really fit me any more than "mama" does.  Badger will continue calling me whatever he wants to call me (at the moment it's mama) but when the new baby comes (I can hardly believe I'm even saying that) I'd like to have a gender neutral name to call myself with him/her.  I've been doing some poking around online, but haven't come up with anything.  Max is papa...what can I be?

[2xy]

Why can't your child just call you by your name? I mean, you don't routinely call him "son," do you?

[MaxsFox]

That's not really my thing, I prefer having a title.  Come to think of it, I don't generally call Badger by his name either, he's usually Dude.

[MeredithA]

The Hebrew word for mother is "Ima" (pronounced eee-muh). Not exactly gender-neutral since it means mother, but it is something different. You could always make up a word or do a variation of a word to personalize it while also making it gender neutral. Something like "Amma" is similar to Mama which would make it really easy for Badger to switch over and call you that...

[2xy]

Makua (mah-'koo-ah) is "parent" in Hawaiian. I kind of like that.

[starling&diesel]

Hi Maxsfox ... There are a couple of older threads on this subject, if you care to search for them.  I'll chime in here though.  My partner is genderqueer and our little one calls her Baba.  I've also heard of mada (combined mama and dada).  And of course you want to be called by a title ... after all, that's a huge component to being a parent and being recognized by the world at large as a person who has a unique connection to your child.  It's a rare straight parent who would prefer their kids to call them by their first names.  I don't know any. 

[JustAnotherJenny]

What about Pare?  Short for parent... I have a gender queer friend and this seemed to work well for their family.

[atlantafemme]

Here's an old thread: http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1161292/genderqueer-parent-names

My partner goes by Duda, though mostly our toddler calls DP "Du" or "Ma-Du," the latter of which he made up completely on his own. (I'm Mommy.)

As an aside, I don't call either of my boys "son." But I generally don't call them by their real names either unless they're in danger or I need to get their attention quickly for some reason. Each has his own set of pet names with which I'm sure I will embarrass them as teens. :)

[2xy]

Originally Posted by starling&diesel 

It's a rare straight parent who would prefer their kids to call them by their first names.  I don't know any. 

I do, which is why I suggested it. But these are consensual living types who care about what their children prefer as much as their own preferences.

[LynnS6]

My niece invented "madi" (first sound of mommy+ last sound of daddy (mahdy)) when she was little -- it was a slip of the tongue when her dad was caring for her, but I've always liked it as a gender neutral term. (Unfortunately, the other way around "dami" doesn't sound very good!)

[MaxsFox]

I really like some of the suggestions, thanks!  At the moment we're considering Duna.  I also like Ada.