Caring for keiki with patience and kindness

The sitters who work for Keiki Sitters know that each child is different in his or her own way, requiring special care and attention.

One of our sitters, Priscilla McClellan, learned a lot about this while nannying for the keiki of her childhood friend. The keiki required extra special care and attention; the boy, 4 years old at the time, is deaf and blind, and the girl, then 8 years old, is blind.

Priscilla McClellan

“It was a very challenging experience in the fact that I was constantly alert and that I had to use hands-on to teach the children,” Priscilla said, adding that it’s important to stay alert at all times when babysitting, but even more so when sitting for a child with disabilities.

She taught the girl a hula for a luau they were going to by holding her hands and body to help her understand. “She did well,” Priscilla said.

Priscilla, who has worked for Keiki Sitters for close to a year, has been caring for children since she was 6 years old. She helped out with her brother and sisters, giving her mother time to sew so she could put food on the table for her family.

“I take it all in stride. I’ve experienced anything and everything. There is no challenge I will not take,” Priscilla said.

Now a grandmother, Priscilla has years of experience caring for keiki, and it’s natural for her. She treats keiki as if they are her own.

“They respond in kind and before I’m done, it’s like we’re grandma and grandchild. I ask them to call me Tutu, which is the respectful Hawaiian way to address a grandmother,” she said.