wp_insert_is_killing_me()

I can’t figure out the behaviour that I’m seeing as a result of using wp_insert_category and wp_insert_term.

If I use wp_insert_category with a defined slug, I’m having the parent categories slugs automatically appended to them. If I use wp_insert_term, I get the appropriate category slug, but it’s not assigning it to the right parent (or any for that matter).

I’m losing my mind.

$cid = get_term_by( 'slug', $slug, 'category' )->term_id;

if ( is_null( $cid ) )
	$cid = wp_insert_category( array( 'cat_name' => $name, 'category_nicename' => $slug, 'category_parent' => $parent ) );
//		$cid = wp_insert_term( $name, 'category', array( 'alias_of' => $name, 'description' => '', 'parent' => $parent, 'slug' => $slug ) );

return $cid;

The above is the meat of the function. All variables are set, I’ve double checked them all. $parent is explicitly typed as an integer.

The categories being inserted have two ancestors and I thought maybe this was a default behavior for that level of nesting, so I tested it. I wrote a loop that nested categories one under another using the last as the parent, and they all inserted with their own unique slug.

I don’t want the parent categories to append their slug to my children. I won’t have it in my household. So what should I try doing?