Cold Snack Gets Cold Reception

(I’m in college and still living at home to save money. I also work part time — full time during the summer when I can get it — to pay my car and phone bill, which are the only things my mother expects me to pay while I’m in school. Half of whatever is left goes into savings and the other half is for clothes or whatever else I prefer not to ask my mom to pay for [basically anything I don’t need to survive]. One very hot summer day when I’m painting, I discover that I’m very nearly out of two colors I need to finish the painting, so I head to the store to get them and decide to stop and get a cold treat for myself and for my mother on the way home. When I get home, the following conversation ensues:)

Me: “Here, I grabbed you something while I was out.”

Mom: “What did you do that for?! You can’t afford to be throwing money around like this!”

Me: *taken aback* “I had some extra cash and it’s hot out.”

Mom: “Well, stop spending all your money!”

(Note that, with the exception of replacing a dress her puppy tore, I hadn’t spent any money in the last couple of paychecks. The same thing happens the next time I try to be nice and get something for her, so when I stop and get a shake on my way home from work one night, I don’t get her anything since it seems to irritate her so much.)

Mom: *when she sees I have a shake* “Where’s mine?”

Me: “I… didn’t get you one. You’ve gotten mad the last—”

Mom: “You’re so rude! I let you live here rent free, I pay for all the food you eat—” *goes on a rant about how ungrateful I am, how she raised me better than that, etc.*