My 6-year old daughter uses she/her pronouns. This morning, she was snuggling in bed with me reading and the following conversation took place:

DAUGHTER: “Mama, my friend Lea uses they/them pronouns….but I think some of our other friends forget that they use they/them pronouns and so they call them she/her…I wonder if I should correct them that Lea uses they/them pronouns?”

ME: “Do you think they are doing it on purpose or that it’s an accident?”

DAUGHTER: “I think it’s an accident. They just forget….I guess I need to correct them?”

I think after this I said something about “maybe they need a reminder.” But didn’t give any specific guidance because I wanted to think about it more.

What do you all think? I feel like my main concern would be that my 6-year-old might not do it tactfully and could make Lea (who is 9) feel awkward. My kid doesn’t have the guile to pull off the “who are you talking about? Oh, Lea? Lea uses they/them pronouns” thing. What would be a good way for her to correct her friends? And should she ask Lea for permission first?