View Single Post
Old 06-02-2016, 06:40 PM
  # 13 (permalink)  
PuzzledHeart
Member
 
PuzzledHeart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: East Coast
Posts: 1,235
I use this phrase on my son all the time:

"When you do X, you are telling me Y."

An example:
"When you don't do your homework right away when you get home, you are telling me that you don't want to play at the park later this evening."

So when your brother spends money on booze, he is telling you that he has enough money for food.

When your brother and wife drank in your home, they were telling you that they really didn't want to be there. When they brought the dogs into your house, even though you asked him not to, they were telling you that that their residency in your house was going to be a short-term situation.

You've told them the conditions in which you could bring them into your home, and they couldn't follow them.

In the end, it was their choice, not yours.
PuzzledHeart is offline