We took our grandson (age 3 at the time) to Chuck E. Cheese's for pizza and noisy rides. When the evening ended, his grandmother buckled him into his car seat and said, "Now be sure you say thank you to your Papa."

Silence. No reaction. She said again, "Did you hear me? Be sure you say thank you to Papa." Again, silence.

At first I ignored this backseat conversation. But then I changed my mind and said this. "You know, Papa enjoys doing nice things for grandchildren, especially when they say thank you." More silence.

"Did you hear Papa?" I asked, now a tad irritated.

"Uh huh."

But there was still no thank you. And now I was [very upset]. "Are you ignoring me?" The volume of my voice amped up. Then this response: "I'm thankful, Papa; I just don't want to say it."