Episode #408 "The Parent Trap"

It's Parents' Night at Erica's and Griffin's school. Erica is particularly anxious to speak to the mother of Justin, a student who treats Erica with disrespect and shows no interest in his English class work. Justin's mom doesn't show up, so Erica pays a visit to his house and meets his mother, Susan McNabb. Justin gets very angry and defensive about his teacher showing up at the house, and Ms. McNabb is pretty defensive herself. She's a single mom working two jobs to support her family and she's been accepting at face value everything Justin tells her about his performance at school. She thinks he does all his homework and has time to play on the varsity basketball team as well. What Erica sees is a kid who spends all his time watching TV or playing video games, and is spoiled rotten because his mom waits on him hand and foot. Things are fine with Justin, his mom says, and she doesn't have any more time for Erica and her judgmental attitude. Erica tells Ruth and Hilton that her meeting was a disaster. The next day at school, Justin is again cocky and disrespectful to Erica when she tries to talk to him about his homework. When he finds out his mom is joining them at the school, he's sure that his mom will never take Erica's word over his. When his mom arrives, however, it's clear that she isn't going to be a pushover. Erica asks Justin about the amount of time he spends watching TV and if he ever watches any learning shows. She also expresses concern about the amount of time he spends playing video games. She says learning English can be fun and challenging like a video game and asks him some questions that relate to his English studies. Justin plays along but asks what kind of job knowing English can get him. Erica says author, speechwriter¼or just maybe President of the United States.