Shoes for All

So Leah and Riley have once again done their little "Survivor" trick and switched alliances on us. Yep, Leah, after being on "Team Mama" for the past ten months, woke up one day this week and decided she's on "Team Dada". And basically on the same day, Riley decided that Daddy is old news and jumped on the Mommy bandwagon. So now for the next ten months, I guess, it'll be Leah following me around the house like a loyal puppy dog and it'll be Riley screaming "nooooo- Mama!" when I try to pick her up. So long, Riley - it's been nice. Look forward to hanging out again with you in, um, March 2011.

I have to say though that Leah's going through a really nice phase right now. Up until recently, Leah was a collector. She would find a box or a bag or miscellaneous receptacle and then stuff toys or books or anything else she could find into it until it was full. We thought this was all very cute at first, but we soon discovered that (1) it wasn't very fun to fish toys and books out of the recycle bin and diaper trash can, and (2) Leah wasn't very nice about letting Riley have access to the toys from her "archives". Collecting is a good hobby when you're an adult, I guess, but when you have a twin sister who's supposed to share all your toys, collecting can lead to a lot of conflict. I mean, collecting is kinda the opposite of sharing, if you think about it.

But over the past couple weeks, Leah has made a miraculous transformation from "collector" to "distributor". She's a regular Robin Hood, I tell ya. Here's her morning ritual for the past week or so:

• First thing after having her diaper changed and getting dressed, Leah runs into the living room, picks up a cup of milk, runs to wherever Riley is, smiles sweetly, and then shoves the cup of milk in Riley's face, triumphantly shouts "Mok!" and then runs off again.
• After sipping from her own cup of milk for a minute or two, she runs into our bedroom.
• 30 seconds later, she comes running out of the bedroom carrying Kathy's shoes. She drops them at Kathy's feet and gleefully exclaims "Mama-shoo!" She then runs away, back into our bedroom.
• 30 seconds later, she comes running out of the bedroom holding my sneakers. She drops them at my feet and exclaims "Dada-shoo!" She then looks up at me expectantly, waiting.
• I say something to Leah like "Thank you for the shoes, Leah!"
• Leah points at the shoes again and look up again at me expectantly.
• I say something to Leah like "Dada doesn't want to put on the shoes right now, Leah."
• Leah points at the shoes again. "Dada-shoo!" she says, with a touch of sadness.
• I say something to Leah like "Dada needs to go to work soon, he doesn't want to put on his sneakers."
• Leah looks up at me again with crestfallen eyes. "Shoo?" she murmurs softly.
• It's too much. I put on the sneakers. Leah giggles. She is pleased.
• Leah walks over to Kathy and looks at her expectantly...
  

And so on.

I know I should probably be taking a harder line and just firmly tell Leah that I will not be putting on my shoes, but it seems wrong somehow to discourage this newfound generous spirit. Especially now that she's part of my alliance and all.