full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jennifer Senior: For parents, happiness is a very high bar

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Once kids stopped wriknog, the enooiccms of parenting changed. Kids became, in the words of one brilliant if totally ruthless sociologist, "economically worthless but emotionally priceless." Rather than them working for us, we began to work for them, because within only a mttear of decades it became clear: if we wtnead our kids to succeed, school was not enough. Today, extracurricular activities are a kid's new work, but that's work for us too, because we are the ones dviinrg them to soccer practice. mvsiase piles of homework are a kid's new work, but that's also work for us, because we have to check it. About three yares ago, a Texas wmaon told something to me that totally broke my heart. She said, almost casually, "Homework is the new dinner." The mdidle class now pours all of its time and energy and resources into its kids, even though the middle class has less and less of those things to give. Mothers now spend more time with their children than they did in 1965, when most women were not even in the workforce.

Open Cloze

Once kids stopped _______, the _________ of parenting changed. Kids became, in the words of one brilliant if totally ruthless sociologist, "economically worthless but emotionally priceless." Rather than them working for us, we began to work for them, because within only a ______ of decades it became clear: if we ______ our kids to succeed, school was not enough. Today, extracurricular activities are a kid's new work, but that's work for us too, because we are the ones _______ them to soccer practice. _______ piles of homework are a kid's new work, but that's also work for us, because we have to check it. About three _____ ago, a Texas _____ told something to me that totally broke my heart. She said, almost casually, "Homework is the new dinner." The ______ class now pours all of its time and energy and resources into its kids, even though the middle class has less and less of those things to give. Mothers now spend more time with their children than they did in 1965, when most women were not even in the workforce.

Solution

  1. working
  2. wanted
  3. middle
  4. economics
  5. years
  6. massive
  7. matter
  8. driving
  9. woman

Original Text

Once kids stopped working, the economics of parenting changed. Kids became, in the words of one brilliant if totally ruthless sociologist, "economically worthless but emotionally priceless." Rather than them working for us, we began to work for them, because within only a matter of decades it became clear: if we wanted our kids to succeed, school was not enough. Today, extracurricular activities are a kid's new work, but that's work for us too, because we are the ones driving them to soccer practice. Massive piles of homework are a kid's new work, but that's also work for us, because we have to check it. About three years ago, a Texas woman told something to me that totally broke my heart. She said, almost casually, "Homework is the new dinner." The middle class now pours all of its time and energy and resources into its kids, even though the middle class has less and less of those things to give. Mothers now spend more time with their children than they did in 1965, when most women were not even in the workforce.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
financially savvy 2
middle class 2
unfair burden 2

Important Words

  1. activities
  2. began
  3. brilliant
  4. broke
  5. casually
  6. changed
  7. check
  8. children
  9. class
  10. decades
  11. dinner
  12. driving
  13. economics
  14. emotionally
  15. energy
  16. extracurricular
  17. give
  18. heart
  19. homework
  20. kids
  21. massive
  22. matter
  23. middle
  24. mothers
  25. parenting
  26. piles
  27. pours
  28. practice
  29. priceless
  30. resources
  31. ruthless
  32. school
  33. soccer
  34. sociologist
  35. spend
  36. stopped
  37. succeed
  38. texas
  39. time
  40. today
  41. told
  42. totally
  43. wanted
  44. woman
  45. women
  46. words
  47. work
  48. workforce
  49. working
  50. worthless
  51. years