Back Handed Compliment

It's thanksgiving holiday weekend. We went to see a movie with my mom. Noel went ahead to get the tickets and he got one for my mother too. I dont' like to have Noel pay for my mother but that's another story. Later on my mother thank Noel for getting her ticket and said that it was the first time Noel bought tickets for her. Noel says he doesn't think so. That's just so her specialty - back handed compliment. She's always doing that. The other day we went out to eat and afterwards she thanks me for not giving her grief all evening. My brother kinda told her off and ask her not to mention negative thing to ruining the evening. She tries to defend herself and saying she was just saying a nice thing. I don't know if she just can't help it herself or she just think that we are stupid and can't figure out that it's really not a compliment. I wish she would stop. That really bothers me.

Maybe she does that because she's got too much bitterness gathered up in her through out the years...