Pleased to Meet Ya!

In order to vacuum, I first have to consult Tizzy, who’s quite concerned for the safety of his feet. We settle him into my room, the only room that’s not part of the continuous loop that is our house, turn on a movie, and close the door. Since the last few years have been spent cleaning on Saturdays, while my husband engages him on various outings, I’m glad we’ve come up with this arrangement, as there are things, other than vacuuming, I’d rather do sans children. 

However, once Zip hears the vacuum, I have precious time to suck up debris before he bounds in, wrestles the hose from my grasp, and growls “I do it!” Sure this provides the perfect opportunity to start him young, and avoid ever having to vacuum again, but he’s not as thorough as I am, choosing instead to clean one section of the floor very, very well. I try to reason with him, but there’s no reasoning with a two year old, and vacuum together? That would mean we’d have to share. So I pick up stray toys, maybe wash a few dishes, and finally insist it’s my turn. Oh, the crying that ensues. Tizzy, quite sure the wailing’s due to the inevitable sucking up of toes, gingerly crosses the threshold and hollers “Run Zip, Run! I’ll hold the door for you!”  

Ahhh, brotherly love. They got off to a rocky start. Zip, and I, were ignored the first few months after arriving home to a 22 month old Tizzy. Wracked with guilt, I had to frequently remind myself that I did not invent siblings, just provided one. The months flew by, and the memories are blurry, but we’re making it work, this newish family. Now none of us can imagine a life without one another. In fact, two of us, can’t remember life without one another at all. They may not think alike, or always understand each other, but they have an alliance that’s stronger than anything I could create in their absence. It’s a work in progress, but now that they’re kids, I finally have time to write about it. Hope you enjoy taking part in the evolution, that is Zip ‘n’ Tizzy.