Passive Aggression

Andrew's career requires him to attend parties often. Yet whenever he asks Maxine to get a sitter so they can go together, she "forgets." Maxine isn't starting a fight about the time Andrew spends away from home, but she's fighting nonetheless -- a form of fighting called "passive-aggressiveness."
Andrew does it too, when he stays upstairs playing video games after promising Maxine he'll put the kids to bed. This kind of pattern can lead to just as much resentment as if he were screaming at her.