In her genes to be hard on jeans?

One day Gabriel came in from school first.

So I knew something was up.

She usually runs home from the bus stop (three houses down) and always beats him.

I have given her a guilt trip about this, about leaving him behind, but it didn't take, apparently.

So on the day he came in first, I asked what was going on.

She looked at me and wouldn't talk. She looked stricken.

And then she came all the way into the room, kind of whimpering.

"What's wrong?" I was getting concerned, and then I saw her jeans, ripped from knee to hem.

She had been afraid to come home, afraid for me to see her jeans, since recess when it happened.

When she'd left home that morning, there was a little horizontal rip at the hem of her Levi's.

These were just a pair of jeans, but she has outgrown so many of her clothes, it's hard to get her dressed each day right now. I'm kind of waiting for warmer weather to buy new clothes.

David says he always wore holes in the knees of his jeans and Gabi reinforces her kids' knees with iron on patches. So maybe it is in her genes.

I told her she could have called me and I would have brought her more jeans, but she says she wasn't supposed to call me for that.

I felt pretty bad that she was scared of my reaction and resolved to try to chill out a little about her clothes. But man, she is hard on them!

Here is my evidence: