Grandparent rant
I just talked to my dad on the phone. The last time we saw each other, I attempted to prep him in advance about my child's new pronouns. He didn't really get it, but whatever. Today we talked for the first time in a month, and he kept referring to my child as "he." I kept correcting him, which didn't really lead anywhere productive. He's not from this country, he's old, and English is not his first language, so I try to be patient. A snippet of the conversation:
Him: "So you only call him that when he's listening?"
Me: "They, and no, we refer to them by their preferred pronouns all the time."
Him: "How long has he had this problem?"
Me: "I'm asking you to use they/them pronouns when talking about K. It's not a problem. It's just their pronouns."
Him: "Why do you do this? Did he ask you to?"
Me: "They. Yes, they asked us to use these pronouns."
Him: "Oh, I see."
We don't have the best relationship to begin with, and we don't see each other very often, so its not difficult to limit my child's exposure to this - but boy was my blood boiling by the end of our call. Needless to say, I will not be answering calls from him on Mother's Day again.