Responsibility weighs heavily on Randyjane Kau.

The single mother and her 2-year-old son Johnathan live in a three-bedroom home with nine other relatives, including her ailing grandparents and an autistic sister.

Kau, 24, drives her grandmother to dialysis treatments three times a week and helps take care of her grandfather, who recently underwent his second triple bypass surgery and no longer drives.

With the family sharing one car, Kau drives her mother and brother to and from work in Waikiki.

The schedule, which includes her job as a supervisor of the shoppette at Bellows Air Force Station and taking Johnathan to a babysitter, means she starts her day at 4:30 a.m.

Amid the grueling routine, Kau is still thankful.

"I am grateful for my family that I have somewhere to be right now, to have a home to go to," Kau said.

But the living situation can be overwhelming. Kau, her son and her mother sleep on one bed.

Johnathan also has some developmental delays; he's not talking yet, although he's slowly picking up words and is receiving early intervention services through the Kailua Easter Seals program.

Virtually everything Kau earns goes toward diapers, food and household bills and expenses, leaving little money for anything else. She works as many holidays as she can so she can make more money.

"By the time I get done paying everybody, it's just very hard," she said.

But Kau is determined to build a good life for herself and her son.

She is looking for a better-paying job and is also trying to save money for affordable housing that she and her son could share with her co-worker.

Kau would like her son to have some toys for Christmas — preferably educational toys designed to assist with gross motor development.

He could also use some clothes, size 3T, and she'd like to take him to the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.