Originally Posted by markos
As an alternative to ignoring her mood, I would say focus on learning to be calm regardless of her mood. Her moods and feelings are important for you to recognize and respond to! It's just important that if she gets emotional, you do not become upset, or worse, abusive (demanding/disrespectful/angry). Even if she becomes abusive.

Yes this is a good point. I asked myself just yesterday, "what would I want/need from my wife if or when I was in a bad mood?" The answer was understanding and acknowledging my problem. Historically neither one of us have shown great care or concern for the other when it comes to stress, being in a bad mood, or even being sick. We joke about each other being the least comforting person either one of us know. The truth is that it is not a joke, it is actually very very sad. We have gotten better at this skill, particularly me. So since my wife is in a bad mood usually a few times a day my plan is to acknowledge and understand the cause of her moodiness diligently rather than try and provide a solution(that'll get you nowhere) or to get irritated that "she's in a bad mood again."

Married 15 years
12 y/o DD
10 y/o DS
6 y/o DD