Say What You Mean

I have a question for those of you out there. Do you know if parents can say one thing but mean something else? It wouldn't seem like something they should be smart enough to do, but I think I've seen signs of it.

The other day I was outside with Daddy, and I wanted to draw with chalk. There were lots of leaves on the driveway, so Daddy needed to clean them off so I would have enough room to really express myself. He got out the big broom and started sweeping away the leaves. It looked like fun, so I asked him if I could sweep the leaves. He got a smaller broom out of the garage and I set to work.

"I'm helping," I told him.

"Yeah, you're a big help," he said. And though I know he couldn't do anything on his own, something about how he said it almost made me think he meant that I wasn't being helpful.

Should I take his comment as the simple statement of gratitude that it is, or is there something more going on behind the scenes?