Modern Family Ep. 2: The Bicycle Thief

          In the beginning, all of the father figures are asked what the key is to being a great dad. The first dad, Jay, doesn't have an answer to give at the time. He is unsure. The second dads, Cameron and Mitchell believe that they should give their child freedom to be what they want to be and to have patience with them. The third dad, Phil, believe that he needs to be their buddy. His wife disagrees with him to which he replies, "stay in school and don't do drugs."
          Jay doesn't know how to answer the question of how to be a good father until the end when he is forced to act upon it. Jay and Gloria are trying to go on a vacation while Gloria's son is with is real father at Disneyland. Jay and Mannie try to fix his ceiling fan together, but end up fighting. Mannie's Father (Javier) cancels on him, so Jay and Gloria take Mannie to Disneyland. This is when Jay figures out that parenting is all about being present for your kids.
          A new neighbor is causing trouble for Phil because he is attracted to he. Claire doesn't want to buy their son a new bike until he proves he's responsible enough to take care of his sister's old bike. Phil decided to go behind her back and buy one for him anyways. Paul tries to teach his son a lesson by stealing his bike from him. He has to help his neighbor and in the process the bike gets stolen (moved) for real. He now goes to buy a new bike, but he soon finds out the bike he took wasn't his sons and that the bike was never really stolen. His neighbor returned it after it was put in her garage. By doing this she reveals to Claire that Paul helped her. Paul was trying to keep this a secret.
          Cameron and Mitchell start taking Lilly to a parenting class. Mitchell is afraid they will be judged on their sexuality, so he has the two of them act "more straight". Mitchell is extremely nervous of the class. He sees that Lilly isn't as "developed" as the other children. Eventually Cameron can no longer act "straight".
          I felt that the main theme of this episode was "the key to being a great dad". A better way of putting is that "the key to being a great dad" was the question, and by the end of the film all of the dad's discovered that the answer to this question was to be present in their children's lives. This means to love them and just to be there when they need them.
          The scriptures affirm how important it is to be there for others and to show love to others. More importantly we are not to turn out backs on people. By being present through all circumstance we demonstrate to people that we love and care for them. Jesus never gave up on loving us, so we are not to give up on others....even our family members.