Frankie vows to stop yelling at and nagging her kids if they agree to follow through on their school work and chores without her intervention. Meanwhile, Mike reluctantly takes a night job as a driver delivering snack cakes with Bob.

When Mike discovers that Brick is a spelling wiz and won the school spelling bee, he puts all his efforts into training him to win the regional bee, which could ultimately lead to competing in the Scripps Spelling Bee. But as the family gets set for their road trip to Chicago for the regional bee, Frankie and Mike are horrified when they realize they forgot one thing -- Sue's birthday.