Affair Hair: Natalie finds a piece of blonde hair on the bed and asks Wesley if he is having an affair.
Calling the Old Woman Out: Wesley rightfully calls his mother out on how she only wants him to live the dreams she planned for him.
Earn Your Happy Ending:Wesley gets to live out his dreams and Lindsey and Ariel get to take the trip with him.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Walter came off as the emotionally immature and reckless foolish. Wesley is the levelheaded and down to earth responsible one.
Manchild: Walter has the emotion and the mental immaturity of a child. He throws tantrums and overreacts to everything.
My Beloved Smother: Wilimena is this to both of her sons, mainly Wesley, as she, and the men's late father, groomed both of their kids to be the sons their parents wanted them to be. When Wesley calls her out on this, this is when Wilimena cut the apron strings for good.
Parental Neglect: While Lindsay isn’t doing this out of malice, it can still count. She has issue getting Ariel well fed at times. She couldn't provide good shelter for her because they were living in a van for a while. She also has issues with getting Ariel to have school attendance record. She was even called out for leaving Ariel in the van. This was what prompted the teacher to call child welfare to take Ariel away. Thankfully, Lindsey gets Ariel back.
Parents as People: Lindsey loves Ariel, but she has made lots of mistakes raising her. She expects Ariel to know everything despite her only being 6 while failing to provide her with the basic necessities that Ariel needs.
Pet the Dog: Walter is nothing but apathetic and hateful towards Lindsay, but he is shown being cordial with her at the near end of the film.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Wesley rightly calls Walter on how he sabotages everything good that comes to him.
The Unfavorite: Wilimena obviously doesn't seem to like Walter too much.
