For me it's attitude.
He has a certain tone of voice when he's in a pissy mood. Sharp, sarcastic and exasperated. He's usually quiet and withdrawn when he's in a bad mood and I don't always pick up on it. I might ask him something like "hey, can you switch the laundry around next time you're downstairs?" and he will immediately snap at me "Yea, when I
get to it." Its all tone and body language. Maybe not a great example but my question didn't warrant that type of response. He sometimes does it when I am telling him a story too. Usually I get upset for two reasons: First, I grew up in a house with an angry father and it's a huge trigger for me to hear that tone of voice. Instantly makes me feel like that powerless little kid being scolded for something I didn't even know I did wrong. Second, I usually don't notice that he's in one of those moods before I approach him and so it catches me completely off guard to suddenly be met with that tone.
I'm trying to work with him on apologizing for it. Owning that he's in a bad mood, saying "ugh sorry I'm just in a bad spot" is a totally fine response and would eliminate all of my bad feelings. Doesn't require pouring his heart out about it if he doesn't want to talk about it further. I don't push this as far as I probably should. I tend to let it slide and give him space until he's back to normal, which usually doesn't take long.
It also extends to how he sometimes speaks to our kids. It makes ME angry when he gets over-the-top angry with them because there has so far been NOTHING in their lives that justifies that level of response. Going back to what I mentioned above, it's a trigger for me given how I grew up. I am more firm with him when he's acting that way to our kids. I make him apologize and talk it out with them.
We both grew up with angry fathers... why are you men always so angry??
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