After a rat chews through the dishwasher cable, Dave argues with exterminators and burrows under the house to kill the rat. Willie tries gardening as a class project.
Dave worries about Willie when he struggles in kindergarten and lags behind obsessive Fred Bakersfield's son Brendan. Then Dave schedules a dull class field trip to the newspaper office.
Dave and Beth have theater tickets, but her great aunt Lillian who dislikes her has died and Beth's mom Maggie pressures them to skip the play and attend the funeral like the rest of the family.
