She gives us examples from literature and her childhood. She fondly remembers the summers of her childhood, full of "looking into the middle distance" and "staring at the tedious blue sky." Then she describes how different summer is for kids these days, making the claim that "our children are as over scheduled as we are, and that is saying something." Quindlen later supports her opinion that kids these days have less downtime than kids in the past by referring to a study from the University of Michigan, which says that "in the last 20 years American kids have lost about four unstructured hours a week." Quindlen goes on to claim that the over scheduling of kids is the result of the over scheduling of parents. Again, she supports her claim by citing the story of presidential aide Karen Hughes, who reporters celebrated for her practice of eating one meal a week with her son. By using evidence and supporting her claims, Quindlen effectively argues that kids these days are losing valuable downtime and carefree summers as a result of the busy lives of their parents.
