No, you don't tell her that you are dropping the rope. It is a mental attitude.
What you "did" tell your W was basically the same thing......which was fine b/c it apparently got her undivided attention and now.....SHE is having second thoughts! I'm not surpirsed.
That is why I was feeling frustrated.....not at you, but just human nature. When in a R, it seems that when one is on....the other person is off.....when one is hot....the other person is cold, then it all reverses.
It is not about what you feel should work in your M. It is about doing the work that gets the right results. Do what works!