I rarely criticize my wife, but when I do, it’s spoken directly to her, in private, and with love.
I don’t speak negatively about my wife to other people. Not because she’s perfect (which is an impossible and unfair standard) but because she deserves a husband she can trust. To say anything about my wife that I wouldn’t say to her face, would be a betrayal of that trust.
I never want her to spend a single moment worrying about the way I talk about her when she’s not around.