I never considered myself a "pet name" kind of person. They seemed cheesy to me, and I didn't really like them. Then I had a boyfriend who called me Baby, and, because it was him, I didn't mind. Fast forward to serious boyfriend #2. Suddenly I'm calling him Babe. Seriously? It just kind of happened and I'm not sure when. I didn't give myself permission for this, I assure you. 

So now I'm with serious boyfriend #3. In the beginning of our relationship I felt like I needed a pet name, but I couldn't reuse one from a previous relationship. I tried out all sorts of names: baby, darling, sweetheart, etc... but nothing felt right. So I started calling him a different pet name every day. Cuddlebug, snugglebutt, honeypoo, ticklebear... the more ridiculous the better. Through this experimentation, I found one that I gravitated toward, and eventually it just stuck: Honey. For him, I became Sweetie. Honey and Sweetie. Just writing that kind of makes me want to throw up a little bit; but you know what? love will do that to you! Love is nauseatingly cute, and unless you have it, you don't want to hear about it. 

For precisely that reason, EVERYONE should keep their pet names to themselves. Limit their use in public, please! Don't yell over everyone in a store "Hey snookums, look at this!" You sound like a fool. DO NOT, when talking to other people, refer to your significant other by your pet name for him/her. It makes other people feel icky! If you are telling a story about something you said to your significant other, DO NOT say "I said 'Baby, what are you doing'"... eww... you get the idea. I've converted, I use pet names, just don't go telling everyone, ok?