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Most of us are familiar with the term, “working mothers,” a mother that juggles a work life in addition to her home duties. “According to Family Caregiver Alliance National Center on Caregiving, “the average caregivers is a… woman who works outside the home and provides 20 hours year week of unpaid care.” However, the term “working daughters” is one often invisible to coworkers and friends- unless you share about a sick parent, no one will know. ⠀
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Why “working daughter” not “working child?” Women are more likely to become caregivers for their parents. According to Family Caregiver Alliance National Center on Caregiving, “an estimated 66% of caregivers are females.”⠀
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As a working daughter, you never know when you’re going to get the call about a sick parent. The call about my mother came while I was on a date with my husband, and I was completely caught off guard. ⠀
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During that call, all I could think was:⠀
“Are you sure that’s the diagnosis?”⠀
“Why didn’t we catch this sooner?”⠀
“…but she’s so young”⠀
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Working daughters have a lot of same challenges as working mothers: balancing a job and career. Some working daughters quit their jobs in order to care for a parent.⠀
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Before you make any type drastic choices, make sure you do your research. Ask family, doctors and organizations that specialize in the disease/disorder for resources (i.e. Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society, American Parkinson Disease Association, etc.). Try your hardest to make decisions that aren’t based on emotional. I’m speaking to myself on that one!! And if the decision to care for a parent is a drastic one (after all the research and discussions), it’ll be comforting moving in that directions knowing the decision was discussed.⠀
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I cried. I actually cried a lot. I remember using my lunch break to make calls regarding my mom’s care and being completely overwhelmed.⠀
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This doesn’t have to be you!! Start the conversations to know the requests/desires of your parents. Use that information to help you when making decisions regarding their care. Also at the end of the series, I’ll share some helpful resources with you!⠀
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Remember, you got this!!
