History Recap / TheSimpsonsS7E3HomeSweetHomediddlyDumDoodily

* PingPongNaivete: Lisa, who typically has a significant store of theological and philosophical knowledge, is just as clueless about the Bible as Bart is. In fairness, [[ArtisticLicenseReligion most of Ned's references are made up]].

* PingPongNaivete: Lisa, who typically has a significant store of theological and philosophical knowledge is just as clueless about the Bible as Bart is. In fairness, [[ArtisticLicenseReligion most of Ned's references are made up]].

* IncrediblyLameFun: Ned serves the kids "nachos, Flanders style":

* CaptainObvious: The parenting class Homer and Marge are forced to take to get their kids back consists of an instructor explaining concepts like the need to refrigerate milk. Marge is humiliated; Homer is taking notes.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Poor Marge has a near-perfect parenting game going, but gets her kids taken away after an investigation that starts out when she unwittingly sends Bart to school with lice. While the investigation mainly turns up NotWhatItLooksLike occurrences, it ''is'' true that Homer and Marge left the house messy (planning to tidy up later) and left Maggie in the care of sleepy and senile Abe (for only three hours).

* ParentingTheHusband: On their way out the door Marge reminds the kids that one day they'll be older and have to take care of themselves. [[InstantlyProvenWrong Cue a frightened Homer coming in to tell her there's a spider near his car keys]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: Bart and Lisa don't manage to explain to the authorities that most of what they're seeing is NotWhatItLooksLike (bullies took Lisa's shoes, etc). Heck, the school itself doesn't bother telling them that Bart is only wearing a sack because ''they'' took his clothes as part of their delousing procedure.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Poor Marge has a perfect parenting game going, but gets her kids taken away after an investigation that starts out when she unwittingly sends Bart to school with lice. While the investigation mainly turns up NotWhatItLooksLike occurrences, it ''is'' true that Homer and Marge left the house messy (planning to tidy up later) and left Maggie in the care of sleepy and senile Abe (for only three hours).

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Poor Marge has a perfect parenting game going, but gets her kids taken away after an investigation that starts out when she unwittingly sends Bart to school with lice. While the investigation mainly turns up NotWhatItLooksLike occurrences, it ''is'' true that Homer and Marge left the house a little messy (planning to tidy up later) and left Maggie in thee care of sleepy and senile Abe (for only three hours).

-->'''Rod:'''Bart, I don't know if this should be an extra.\\

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In a rare thoughtful moment, Homer shows his appreciation for Marge's tireless work as a wife and mother by getting her a well-deserved spa trip. This causes her to be out of the house when CPS arrives to find the sinkful of dishes Homer insisted she not stop to do and Grandpa Abe--who he called to babysit Maggie--passed out on the couch, among other [[ContrivedCoincidence Contrived Coincidences]] that make the family look bad which Marge could easily have cleared up had she been present.

* GoodParents: The opening of the episode emphasizes Marge as a supermom, making an effortless breakfast, packing her kids' lunches to perfection ("Keep the lettuce separate until 11:30. That way the lettuce stays moist and the bread stays dry!"), and explaining how she obtained the newspapers Lisa needed for a class project even though she had to track them to the dump, showing that she's far from the abusive and neglectful parent CPS believes her to be. {{Downplayed}} with Homer: he [[ParentsAsPeople has plenty of parental failings]], but he loves and wants the best for his children, and Bart and Lisa miss him as much as they miss Marge.

* ApopheniaPlot: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are mistaken for being neglected and abused when the child workers walk in after a variety of unrelated circumstances (Grampa is left in charge of the kids, Lisa's shoes are taken away by bullies, Bart has head lice from playing with a monkey, there's a bunch of old newspapers on the table intended for the recycling plant). They're sent to live with their next-door neighbors the Flanders, as Homer and Marge are made to take a parenting class. Eventually, they pass and are able to get their kids back.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In a rare thoughtful moment, Homer shows his appreciation for Marge's tireless work as a wife and mother by getting her a well-deserved spa trip. This causes her to be out of the house when CPS arrives to find the sinkful of dishes Homer insisted she not stop to do and Grandpa Abe--who he called to babysit Maggie--passed out on the couch.

Episode - 3F01\\
First Aired - 10/1/1995

* AdultFear:
** Due to several misunderstandings, child welfare accuse Homer and Marge of negligence and their children are taken away from them. It's particularly heartbreaking when Homer and Marge wander into each of their kids' empty bedrooms. And when Marge and Homer hear Bart's signature ring, they rush down to the front door, faces joyful, only to see nobody's there.
** After regaining custody of the kids, Homer and Marge find out that the Flanderses have taken their children to be baptized, which, in this universe, amounts to being adopted and brainwashed.

* SeriousBusiness: In-universe. The Flanders boys appear to treat newspaper printing seriously as they scold Bart for printing a headline that says "Extra Extra! Todd Stinks", demanding to know whether it's really worth printing and what his sources are. Never mind that their own headlines like "Playtime is Fun" [[TastesLikeDiabetes are overtly kiddy]].

* ImColdSoCold: When Bart is discovered to have head lice on class picture day (as a result of playing with a [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys monkey]] Milhouse found), he comments "[[TemptingFate I get lice and nothing bad happens to Milhouse.]]" We then see Milhouse standing there pale, wrapped in a blanket, muttering "So cold, so very, very cold."

** After regaining custody of the kids, Homer and Marge find out that the Flanders have taken their children to be baptized, which in this universe, amounts to being adopted and brainwashed.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: When the episode first aired, Milhouse tells Bart that he found the monkey that gave Bart lice in a wicker basket from Pier One. When the company complained about the joke, the reruns had the line changed to "Trader Pete's", an entirely fictional store. On DVD, overseas markets (as Pier One isn't known outside of America), and the "Every Simpsons Ever" marathon on FXX (as well as normal cable reruns on that channel), the "Pier One" line is used. The "Trader Pete's" dialogue is on Creator/DisneyPlus as well as Creator/{{Freeform}}.[[note]]As of December 2020, the "Pier One" dialogue is intact but the subtitles say "Trader Pete's".[[/note]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: Ned owns "The Song of Solomon" (one of the racier parts of the Bible) and "Today's Family [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Gnostic]] Bible".

* TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw: All it takes is a few misunderstandings for Child Protective Services to deem Homer and Marge bad parents and take their kids away. Meanwhile, kids like Nelson and The Spucklers live in homes that are rife with [[HorribleHousing squalor]], [[PerpetualPoverty poverty]], [[ParentalNeglect neglect]], and more, yet ''they've'' never had a visit from Child Services.

** As usual, Homer is the king of this. While in court he speaks up after Marge claiming to the judge that he's the ''last'' type of guy who should have any children, and then when mentioning loving Bart and Lisa he forgets about Maggie. He realizes the first and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it, with the judge and Marge pointing out the second. Fortunately, the judge seemed to reasonably overlook it and sent both parents into a parenting class.

* VertigoEffect: When the social worker announces to Bart, Lisa and Maggie that they're being taken to "a FOSTER HOOOOOOME!".