Does anyone else find that you are talked down to or infantilized by coworkers because you don't have kids? I was in a meeting with a client and a co-worker early today, and they spent 20 minutes discussing their Mother's Day plans. At the end of their conversation, the client turned to me and suggested that I wasn't doing anything for the weekend, and asked if I at least had pets. In a polite tone, I answered her question, but also clarified that I did have Mother's Day plans, and that I would be taking my mother-in-law for brunch with my partner. I just found the comment so off-putting. People still do things for Mother's Day even if they are child-free. Even if I wasn't doing anything, there was no harm in asking what my weekend plans were instead of assuming that I would do nothing because I'm not a mom.
It's not just the assumption that I wouldn't have plans that upset, but also the tone she said it in. When she turned to me, her tone sounded like she was talking to a kid, when I'm thirty years of age.
This is just an example, but I experience these microaggressions now and then at work, and it sucks.