5 “Parenthood” Lessons from Season 2 Episode 4: “I Don’t Have a Life”

Parenthood is based of the 1989 movie of the same name. It revolves around the Braverman Family, the adult children and grandchildren of Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) and Camile (Bonnie Bedelia): Adam (Peter Krause) the shoe salesman, Sarah (Lauren Graham) the single mom, Julia (Erika Christensen) the attorney and Crosby (Dax Shepherd), who recently found out he had a son he never knew about.

1. 80% of marriages with a child that has Autism end in divorce. Kristina (Monica Potter) and Adam were overbooked and overworked, and when Kristina’s friend told her the above statistic, Kristina made “date night” a priority. The couple faced many obstacles along the way to their romantic evening, including losing daughter Haddie (Sarah Ramos) as a babysitter for autistic son Max (Max Burkholder) and running into Sarah on her own date with Adam’s employee, Mike (True Blood’s Kevin Alejandro). In the end, the two finally found their own peace and quiet - something tells me that this relationship is safe.

2. Baby making doesn’t count as a hobby, but it would make one hell of a presentation. It was “Hobby Day” at Sydney’s (Savannah Paige Rae) school, and stay-at-home dad Joel (Sam Jaeger) was coming up empty. His magic set was a bust, he didn’t collect stamps or ceramic horses, and he couldn’t use fireworks or he’d burn down the school. His solution? Go with what he knew - wood. By providing an arts and crafts activity for the kindergarteners, Joel was a hit with the kids, including Sydney.

3. Girls like it when you make the first move. Or in poor Drew’s (Miles Heizer) case, they don’t. The awkward teen had his lab partner, Holly, over to the house to work on a project on mitosis (aka meiosis’ asexual second-cousin). His mother, Sarah, took a keen interest in the pairing and advised Drew to kiss Holly, claiming that she returned his feelings. Unfortunately for him, she was only in it because of his good grades. Drew lashed out at his mom, saying she screwed everything up and he didn’t need a mother’s advice, he needed a father’s. Ouch.

4. If you really wanted to be a father you’d know you’re never off the clock. Crosby struggled with single parenting while his girlfriend Jasmine (Joy Bryant) was busy in Europe with her dance company. On a night that his son Jabbar (Tyree Brown) was supposed to be at his mother-in-law Renee’s house, Crosby had a wild party, and when Renee (Tina Lifford) called asking Crosby to pick his son up, Crosby failed to hide his drunkenness from her. He called Adam’s house but reached Gabby (My future wife, Minka Kelly), Max’s aide, and she agreed to drive him to get Jabbar. Renee already sent out her son Sekou, who berated the drunk for not being responsible. Crosby took it to heart, and luckily for him Jasmine returned from Europe - for good!

5. If I’m good, Minka Kelly may give me a sticker. The Friday Night Lights actress has already stolen my heart, and I’m afraid she’s going to steal Crosby’s as well. Sekou suggested there was something going on between them and Crosby has had many awkward encounters with her. Even Adam called her “super-hot.” Please, Crosby - don’t mess things up with Jasmine and Jabbar, leave Minka to me.