Tianna

Tianna arrived at 2p. She was very polite and friendly, and warmed up to the kids right away. I whisked her away with me and the kids to Meijer, kind of a trial run to see if she was ok with us. Any shyness the kids had toward her went away with Ronin blabbering to her nonstop. Audrey even allowed Tianna to carry her from the carseat to the shopping cart. Nikko didn't pay her much attention during the excursion but was very good about welcoming her with a Hi Tianna and later on a Bye Tianna. Nikko was a little anxious in the store but I quickly got to the toy section and was scouring the aisles for any Toy Story 3 promos. Luckily I found one that had a Rex dinosaur and a Slink the Dog, and Nikko was soon calm again while he carried his future possessions around. Nikko has taken carrying around figurines to the extreme because he is carrying Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Slink, a blue dragon, and at one point also Mike Wazowski all in one hand. Unfortunately, I think Mike is lost *again* either in the carseat or possibly in the backyard. I hope Nikko doesn't go asking for him again, until I can locate him. AGAIN. Anyway, Tianna wasn't scared off by my kids, or my overbearing ways, so I think she's a keeper for us, for the next nine weeks. She's doing these service hours toward college, and she is family friends with Maria so that's how they know each other. Tianna is young, like Brianna, but she seemed very even-keel, always looked directly at me when talking to me and when listening to me, and kept a good eye on the roaming Ronin. I told her that I can text her the day before she comes so that she'll know what kind of activity to expect when she comes over. Today was a shopping expedition, but next week may very well be the Nibbles Cafe, which I have been wanting to try for a year.

At the kid table in the kitchen, when Ronin begins whining and crying in protest to me over something, Nikko has taken to swatting Ronin. I don't blame Nikko, but it's also not something he should be allowed to do. I reprimand Nikko by telling him sternly to stop, sometimes holding back the offending wrist, but Nikko gets upset that I've raised my voice to him and he starts bawling, too. I'm sure the high-pitched screams of Ronin right next to Nikko don't help his gut reaction to swatting, either. I had to haul Nikko off his chair and relocate him to the smaller table in Time Out, but that really got Nikko angry and he flung himself onto the floor. Then it was Ronin's turn to sit on the floor in Time Out because he was refusing to eat, refusing to stop playing with Mac Truck at the table, and refusing to listen to me. I put Nikko back to the kid table and when Ronin's Time Out was finish I banished him from the kitchen. My throat was healing from having a cold, and now I am certain it is shredded again. I was doing not too bad the last two days in terms of yelling at Ronin too much, but tonight just shot that to hell.