[Cadaverous Pallor]

It's pretty obvious that you weren't joking. Nice try though. Defensive when backed into a corner then brushing it off...we've seen this before from you. Wouldn't it be easier to admit a mistake and apologize?

Even joking, telling a child she is one thing or another is very limiting. We all do it from time to time and it's something I'm training myself to avoid. Even repeating things as innocent as "he's good at math but not as good at reading" pidgeonholes him as specificially being a math person, setting him up to let his reading skills lag while working feverishly to keep his math skills up to some inner expecation.

If a toddler kicks a ball and you tell him "you're an athlete", or say to a 10 year old "you're not good at sports" when he misses a soccer goal, you're not only influencing his personal view of himself, you're telling him something that is not really being shown, and demonstrating that just one instance of behavior is enough to whitewash his entire persona and reflect either well or badly on him. Talk about pressure.....

....never mind if we're actually talking about a person's sexuality.

A far better take - "You kicked that ball!" "We can work on your goal shooting." "Aren't those flowers pretty?"