A few weeks ago, Jaela's team (they call themselves the Steelers) didn't have practice, but Macey's team (Revolution) did. Macey's coach let Jaela join theirs, and the girls had fun trying to teach Macey's teammates how to tell them apart.
Only one kid got it.
At Macey's next practice, the coach spent half of the time trying to convince the kids that Macey was really Macey, and not Jaela sent as a spy...their two teams were scheduled to play each other next, and the kids were highly suspicious. Jaela and Macey had told the kids that Macey was slightly taller, so the coach had Jaela join them for a few minutes. Jaela and Macey stood back to back and proved to everyone's satisfaction that Macey really was Macey.
The Steelers and the Revolution met two weeks in a row, and each team won once. A nice, even tally for those of us with a kid on each team. Which would be...yeah, just Mike and me.
So much for spy tactics.
Then again, there is always room for misconception.
On Saturday, Macey's team played a team that Jaela's team had already played against. Macey played defense for the first half, which is Jaela's regular position on her team. A few kids from the other team recognized her...or thought they did! During the game, I noticed a discussion going on among three of the kids closest to Macey, with lots of pointing in her direction, so on the way home I asked her about it.
Macey told me, "One kid said, 'That girl is on the Steelers team, too!' and one of the others said, 'You can't be on two teams at the same time; that's illegal!' But, Mom, I'm not on two teams, so was I really doing something illegal?"
After I reassured her that she was doing nothing wrong, I asked her if she had corrected them.
She didn't know what I meant, so I clarified it for her. "Did you tell them that you're NOT on two teams, and that you have an IDENTICAL TWIN SISTER who plays on the Steelers team?"
There was a short pause. And then Macey laughed. "Do you mean that they thought I was JAELA?!?"
(They're trying really hard to look exactly the same)
