But the hand on his wife's thigh may speak of his needs that he wants to see fulfilled before anything else. But the wife's real motivation may not have been her husband's needs but her needs for companionship and affection. But the husband was reading the newspaper and may only have been looking after himself . Handle things without causing a racket. Sure, it is not wrong to court the marriage partner, to seek time with him or to make comments about child discipline, but it is destructive when the primary goal is manipulation.
Manipulation causes resentment and prevents husband and wife from loving each other freely.
If you are motivated by your needs and then manipulate the other, you will find that your needs will never be met because the forced kind of affection does not make anybody feel loved. Try to list a few more situations where one spouse manipulates the other. There is no other way than turning to God first. There is no other way than receiving everything from him. Hear the Word of God.