So, That's What It's Called

The Daughter Track, how catchy. I've been on it for over 12 years. Mom has most of her mental faculties and prefers the simpler enjoyments of life whenever possible. My brothers think it is easy and that I should be grateful for the opportunity.

Forget the Career. My Parents Need Me at Home. - New York Times: "In another era, the task of caring for elderly parents often fell to the unmarried daughter who never left home and never worked for a living. But now, in a 21st-century twist on the 19th-century spinster, career women like Ms. Geist who have made their mark in the world are returning home to care for parents in old age.

They are embracing a filial role that few could have imagined in their futures and are doing so by choice. In fact, sociologists are beginning to give the phenomenon a name: the Daughter Track, a late-in-life version of the Mommy Track, a career downsizing popular with younger women.

Women, now as always, bear a disproportionate burden for elder care and often leave jobs, either temporarily or permanently, when the double duty becomes overwhelming , according to recent studies of family care-giving, women in the workplace and retirement patterns. Although there is no precise count of how many women have walked away from careers to care for their parents, more of them than ever are financially independent, unmarried or childless, which makes it more feasible than it might be for women with families at home. And never have more parents needed adult children to care for them, what with long life expectancy and disabling conditions like Alzheimer's disease."

I'm hoping to have more money as she gets older but it doesn't look good so far. I really wanted her to enjoy herself while she could.

If it wastn't for the lack of money, I would fit right in with the rest of the daughter track.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's the NY Times, but the story was so appropriate.