History Recap / DinosaursS03E08LicenseToParent

* WouldHurtAChild: After being sentenced to a parenting test, Earl hopes to be able to pass it to get his parenting license renewed. In the first test, he tries to tolerate Baby's behavior when he pretends to have his milk spilled, but when Baby tosses his milk carton at him, Earl loses his temper and strangles Baby, not unlike what [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson does to Bart]]. Baby isn't fazed because he knows that this infraction will cause Earl to fail his test.

!!Includes examples of

* LaserGuidedKarma: As a result of him drawing a gun at the Sinclair children, Bettleheim get suspended from the Parenting Patrol until "He's thought good and hard about his actions."

* RuleOfThree: Once a parent breaks three parenting rules, their license to parent is revoked.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Officer Bettleheim enforces the rules in the parenting manual by the book, even ones that wouldn't be too consequential to the kids in a negative way (such as when Fran told Robbie to do his homework before watching television as opposed to letting Robbie pick his schedule or when she decided to let the Baby take a nap a little later instead of at his regular time). During the time that his license is revoked, Earl isn't even allowed to deny Robbie permission to borrow his car or stop the Baby from taking off his diaper.

* PrecisionFStrike: Earl yells "smoo" after getting his first ticket, which gets him a second ticket for cursing in front of Baby.
* {{Striptease}}: Baby, citing an itchy diaper, does this to annoy Earl as he tries to study for his parenting license renewal. He even sings the corresponding song as he does it.

* EpicFail: While not entirely his fault, each of Earl's attempts to deal with Baby's behavior at the parenting class winds up as such that he outright flunks the class and loses his license.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Earl gets citations for yelling at the baby, setting a bad example in front of the Baby (by offering Bettleheim a bribe), and eating the Baby's cupcake.

* DisproportionateRetribution: One father at parenting class says that he got his parenting license taken away just because he missed a diaper change.

* BribeBackfire: Earl's second fine is his punishment for trying to bribe his way out of the first fine.

* ImaginaryFriend: One of the lessons taught at parenting class is how to cope with one of these. Earl ends up killing Baby's friend Snookie with an imaginary gun, which results in Earl failing the class.

While driving the Baby to see the doctor in his new car, Earl becomes upset that Fran brought the Baby a cupcake to eat in the car. When the Baby drops the cupcake, Earl picks it up, not watching the road and nearly getting them in an accident, and then eats the cupcake, making the Baby cry. They then get pulled over by Officer Bettleheim, who asks for Earl's license. After handing over his drivers license, it turns out that the officer asked for Earl's parenting licence, revealing he's on the Parenting Patrol. Earl soon gets three citations and gets sentenced to having to take a parenting test the next morning. Earl doesn't study, feeling confident that he doesn't need to, but ends up failing every answer and gets his license suspended. With Fran being the only licensed parent, Officer Bettleheim is sent to monitor the Sinclair household to make sure Earl doesn't do any unlicensed parenting, but after making her own decisions as opposed to what the manual says and later getting fed up with the kids, she gets her license taken away as well. Officer Bettleheim, who has a parenting license despite not being a parent, takes over watching the Sinclair kids. But when Bettleheim has trouble getting the kids to get along and learns that Robbie scratched the car after hitting his motorcycle, Bettlehim takes out his gun and points at the kids. Fran crosses the "no parenting" line and gives Battleheim a talking to. He doesn't know what came over him, having been unprepared for those kids, and Fran and Earl have their licenses back.

* ThreeStrikes: Once a parent breaks three parenting rules, their license to parent is revoked.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Officer Bettleheim enforces the rules in the parenting manual by the book, even ones that wouldn't be too consequential to the kids in a negative way (such as when Fran told Robbie to do his homework before watching television as opposed to letting Robbie pick his schedule or when she decided to let the Baby take a nap a little later instead of at his regular time). Earl isn't even allowed to deny Robbie permission to borrow his car or stop the Baby from taking off his diaper.

* WatchThePaintJob: Earl wants nothing to happen to his new car, and the plot starts because he gets mad at the Baby for eating in the car. Later, Officer Bettleheim loses it after learning that Robbie scratched the car after running into his motorcycle.

* GroundedForever: In the epilogue, it is said that for scratching the car Robbie is serving six years in his room.

* WatchThePaintJob: Earl wants nothing to happen to his new car, and the plot starts because he gets mad at the Baby for eating in the car. Later, Officer Bettleheim loses it after learning that Robbie scratched the car, even though it wasn't his.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When Officer Bettleheim loses it and points a gun at the children, Fran crosses the yellow tape she's supposed to stay behind and stops him.