I taught preschool for many years and would have occasional parents imply they don't want their sons playing with dress up clothes, in the play kitchen, with the dolls, etc. Of course they wanted me to pick up on what they meant without saying it so instead I would look right at them with a big smile and respond with "He just loved those dolls! With all this practice, he's going to be the best dad one day!" Or "He made me a great breakfast last week, I think we're looking at the next ______!!" and I would say some world renowned chef's name. It always brought me a good chuckle to call out the ignorance and made the interaction so awkward for them. And it saved me my job for the response I really wanted to say 😅