Mimi Swartz, an executive editor at Texas Monthly and a contributing opinion writer to the New York Times, recently wrote a piece for the newspaper about being a helicopter daughter.
A lot like a helicopter parent – a parent who takes an overprotective or excessive interest in the life of their child or children.– Swartz describes her helicopter daughter role as this: “Since Dad took up residence in our living room two years ago, I have hired and managed his 24-hour cast of caregivers, and investigated and purchased two wheelchairs (one is foldable) and three walkers. Having more or less replicated the medical team he had back in San Antonio, I keep a calendar of his doctors’ appointments on my iPhone. I’m also on first-name terms with the pharmacists at my neighborhood Walmart and Target.”
She goes on to compare life as a helicopter parent with that of a helicopter daughter. She says this about her father: “As his primary caregiver, I’d say this experience has been gratifying over all — but also strangely familiar. I did a lot of the same sort of things 20 years ago, when my son, Sam, was little.”
And her conclusion to her article states: “There is one important difference, though, between being a helicopter mom and a helicopter daughter: Over caring for a child is bad for the child, but over caring for an elderly parent is not bad for the parent. Being overly vigilant may not extend a parent’s life, but it can improve it.”
Read Swartz’s complete piece at: http://nyti.ms/1OjbWpZ
