Busy Philipps Says You Don't Have To 'Understand' Her Child's Pronouns

Philipps spoke about her child’s pronouns and set the record straight for those who don’t get it

Busy Philipps is Birdie’s biggest cheerleader as the actor continues to support her child on their path of self-discovery and sexuality. The actress recently revealed that Birdie is gay and prefers they/them pronouns.

Birdie often has pop culture conversations with their mother, who sometimes posts the hilarious back and forth on Instagram.

“Birdie just told me a theory that all the other teens in the movie The breakfast club are in Molly Ringwald’s head?” Philipps posted. “And I don’t know if that’s a tik tock thing or if Birdie made it up but either way my mind is blown. Also mind blowing are Birdie’s makeup skills. Which may be from tik tock as well but STILL IMPRESSIVE!”

Even though the mum of two sometimes misuses pronouns, she admits she is “trying [her] best” as she supports Birdie.

“Gonna be 13 this summer and we have entered the Taylor phase,” Philipps posted about Birdie. “Tbh, right on schedule. (Shout out to @jessetyler for making bird’s @taylorswift cardigan dreams a reality❤️)”

The actress recently gave an interview for Health in which she explained her child’s gender identity as “femme-presenting nonbinary” and spoke openly about her experience as a mother of a nonbinary kid.

“My mom is older and wants to understand the pronoun conversation more…I said to my mother, ‘Here’s the deal: You don’t have to understand it,'” Philipps told the magazine.

“That’s how I feel about all human rights — you don’t have to understand it,” Philipps said. “You can choose to believe what you want, but you don’t get to have jurisdiction over anyone else’s body or belief system.”

The proud mama often takes to Instagram to rave about her children (with her kiddos’ permission). “Is there anything better than laying your head on your mom’s lap after dinner?” Philipps posted on Mother’s Day. “#happymothersday to all those who mother”

As for how the mum of two teaches Birdie and her youngest child, Cricket, about health, identity, and wellness, Philipps says it’s all about “leading by example.”

“My babies,” Philipps captioned an Instagram post.

“I make a concerted effort to be aware of how I talk about diet and exercise around them — like, what my intention and goals are with those things,” Philipps said.

“We talk about therapy in our house and never shy away from hard conversations. I’ve always been open — but not in that ‘I’m not a regular mom; I’m a cool mom’ way.”

Philipps added that she doesn’t necessarily want to be her children’s “best friend” and instead wants “them to know by watching me what my values are and the things that are important.”

Philipps seems to understand that what your kiddos need, more than anything is for us to show up as caregivers. We should all be so Busy.