Hi IS, I'm with Mr B on this one - they will be nasty no matter what.
My H has been going through a nasty cycle for 2-3 weeks now, and I think it's because he's seeing me start to detach. Tonight for instance when he came over to cook dinner (arriving 45 mins later than he said he would), I stopped working on my computer at the kitchen table and went out to do gardening until S13 called me in to eat. I was pleasant and did a bit of small talk, but really just wanted to be outside, not in the kitchen talking to him the whole time.
S13 was out in the yard with me, and D15 was shut in her room, so H was here 'on his own' pretty much for the first time, as it were.
He left within an hour of arriving - and when I asked why he was going early, he exploded. So, be nice or be detached, when they are not getting their own way, they will lash out regardless.
