Searching for Evidence of Gratitude

Do any of these phrases sound familiar?

"WHEN is dinner going to be ready?"
"Are you ever going to clean my toilet?"
"That is really dirty! You should clean that."

These are actual quotes spoken by my children to me over the past few weeks. The appropriate responses are something along these lines:

"As soon as you're done setting the table." (And "By the way, you will eat it whether you like it or not.")
"No, but you can."
"If you are grossed out by the dirt you have spread throughout the house, then get down on your hands and knees and start scrubbing."

I've known for years that cleaning on behalf of children is a thankless job, but these comments are taking things a little too far. However, as I am always on the lookout for ways to see the good in my kids, I paid close attention over the last few days to what my children were saying and tried hard to find some tiny shred of evidence that they appreciate me. Last night, I found it. Here it is (you will have to squint hard to find the gratitude):

Over dinner last night, my husband jokingly said, "Okay. Who wants to go to bed early?" I immediately responded, "Me!" The boys were vigorously shaking their heads, "No." My husband said it would be great if we (the adults) were able to get to bed early. Our 6-year old looked worried and pleadingly said, "What will we do without you?" Translation: "Who will get our dessert?" We assured him we would not really go to bed early, thereby setting them loose on an unsuspecting house. Examining his comment closely, I was able to find a teensy bit of gratitude in there. It's microscopic, but still...

(Credit: The above illustration is by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"; more clip art can be found on his website: http://www.wizardofdraws.com/)