I've been with my girlfriend for a long time. It seems that over the years she's become more comfortable with calling out my mistakes and labelling me as an idiot. While I know that she loves me, she doesn't really express compliments or that aspect very often.
For example, she's turned it into a sort of joke when I say I love you, she'll reply back with I hate you. The time she doesn't do this is when she's in a very happy mood of course.
This in turn makes me wonder, why is she exactly with me?
I love her very much, but I kind of wish she understood more about the impact her words and actions have on a relationship. Part of me doesn't think she does it to be controlling and malicious, she just doesn't quite realise how serious this sort of thing has on the relationship. It makes me feel like, I can't be with her in the future if this continues.
But I don't really know how to bring up the topic without it exploding on my face. How do I broach the topic?