After forgetting Marge's thirty-fourth birthday, Homer rushes to the Springfield Mall, where he buys a bowling ball for himself and disguises it as her gift. Patty and Selma treat Marge to a birthday dinner at the Singing Sirloin, where Bart gives her French perfume and Lisa presents a macaroni-and-glue portrait of her mother. She is pleased with both gifts because her children made her feel loved and special on her birthday. As Homer presents the bowling ball to her, it bursts through its box and squashes her birthday cake. Everyone is surprised by his thoughtlessness except Patty and Selma, whom earlier alluded to his lousy gift giving history. They sit back smugly as Marge calls Homer out for offending her with a gift for himself, pointing out that she has never gone bowling in her life and that the ball is inscribed with his name.