Men and women live in different places, emotionally....

I suggest writing down what you need. It sound dumb, but reading it and processing it and reading it again usually will have more of an impact on the Y chromosome bit....

Don't expect much. Men are creatures of action, and if they can't fix it, they won't get why you're telling them and you will just have a frustrated man on your hands who sighs and/or goes to sleep.

Just my own observations. YMMV and others may disagree.