What Happened When A Crappy Bracelet Broke

Today a rather sad Lauren came to me to confess that she had broken a bracelet of Aislinn's - one of those rubber "LIVE STRONG" types, only this one said "BELIEVE" and I think was somehow related to The Polar Express. My solution was to put it in the trash where it would, more likely than not, be forgotten. Lauren's solution was to wait for Aislinn to get home from school, and then confess. Here's what happened:

L: I'm really sorry Aislinn, but I broke your bracelet.

A: What bracelet, Lauren, show me.

M: It was that red rubber bracelet and it's in the trash.

A (marching to the kitchen for some trash picking): Lauren, what did you do?

L (starting to get a desperate edge to her voice): I'm really sorry.

I decided to wait and see what happened next. Aislinn fished the bracelet out of the trash and then came up with the most unexpected response.

A: Oh Lauren, this bracelet had a little crack in it when I got it, and I kept bending it back and forth, making it worse, so it's my fault too.

Wow. This may seem like a boring little incident to the average reader, but to the mom that is trying to turn them into functioning citizens, this was a banner day.