>You're saying even in the previous century you frequently heard others refer to their own child as "they"? And you didn't find it jarring one bit? Sorry, too

>You're saying even in the previous century you frequently heard others refer to their own child as "they"? And you didn't find it jarring one bit? Sorry, too deep to reply directly to your comment which is a sibling of this, but, that is correct. I don't recall a person referring to their own child as "they" as ever being odd if I don't know that person's child and the speaker didn't otherwise gender the child. It would sound slightly odd if that person said "My SON went to the park before they ate lunch" but "My CHILD went to the park before they ate lunch" has always sounded normal as far as I can recall.