What does “handful” really mean here?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"Handful" here means a person who is difficult to deal with or control. In this case, the little boy seems to have a lot of health issues and is a little unusual, which means you have to do more work with him than with other children. Ex: He loves to play pranks, so he can be a handful. Ex: She's a handful because she has a lot of energy.