Grandma Shines As Nanny

Mon., Feb. 8, 1999

Melodie Little Correspondent

In an ongoing look at the child-care dilemma and the solutions Inland Northwest families are finding, correspondent Melodie Little explores how extended family can be valuable child-care providers.

The kids call her Ya Ya, which is Greek for grandma. And Barry Smith and his wife Mary Testa-Smith couldn’t ask for a better child-care provider.

Because Mary’s job as a certification specialist involves constant travel, having her mother, Kitty, as a live-in caretaker has proved to be the ideal situation for the family.

Kitty Nickas moved in with the Smiths six years ago to help care for Grace, 6, and Charlie, 8.

Early tests show that Grace reads at a fourth-grade level and Charlie is advanced as well. Barry feels that Kitty is responsible for much of their success.

“She encourages reading and she communicated with them like they’re people,” he said.

Having grandma at home allows Barry and Mary to have more freedom than many parents.

“Kitty does a lot of transportation of the kids, especially when we’re double-booked,” Barry said.

And then there’s the cooking - mouth-watering lasagna and the “world’s best shrimp Florentine,” Barry said.

Grandma seems to have the magic touch with the kids, especially Grace. “They have confidence coming out of their seams. It’s that love and constant support,” Barry said.

Even if she wasn’t related, her references speak for themselves. Back in her native home of New York City, Kitty provided temporary foster care to abused and drug-addicted infants. Working with fussy babies wasn’t difficult for her, it was harder for her to let them go.

“Our lives would definitely be changed for the worse if she weren’t here. I’m closer with my mother-in-law than I ever was with my own mother, by leaps and bounds,” Barry said.

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