ABC's 'Modern Family' Cast And Crew
The cast and crew of ABC's "Modern Family" pose on the red carpet of the 2014 EMMY Awards in Los Angeles, California August 25, 2014. Reuters/Mike Blake

Season 6 of "Modern Family" started off with a string of family issues stemming from Mitch and Cam's wedding, which took place in the season 5 finale. Now that the newlyweds have settled in, they have to deal with life as a married couple and, of course, as parents to their rapidly growing daughter Lily. In episode 3 titled "The Cold," Mitch faced a dilemma when he struck up an unusual rivalry with Lily's friend Sydney.

It all started innocently enough when Mitch set up a play date with a young girl called Sydney whom he knows to be a little bit of a genius. Mitch reasoned out that in the past, Lily's playmates have been unable to challenge her. Mitch thought that it would be better for her to strike up a friendship with a smart and talented girl so that they could motivate each other. At the beginning Mitch and Cam thought it was a brilliant idea when Lily and Sydney set off to do educational activities together.

Things started to take a turn for the worst when Sydney started to appear to be better than Lily at just about anything. First, the kids were playing the piano and Lily played a simple nursery rhyme while singing. Sydney took her turn and shyly said that she can only play but can't sing. Mitch encouraged her and she went on to play a complicated piece.

Finally, when the two kids did some drawings, Mitch saw that Sydney's creation was so much better than Lily's. In an attempt to try to make Lily look good, he asked her to recite capitals in alphabetical order. He had meant state capitals but Sydney upstaged Lily once again by reciting capitals from around the world. Mitch got annoyed and called her a little know-it-all. Sydney started crying and when Mitch panicked, he accidentally spilled a drink on her drawing. She accused him of doing it on purpose and started to cry even more. He tried to pacify her and as he was stroking her hair, his watch got caught. He tried to break free and ended up pulling out her hair. Her mother arrived just in time to catch her daughter crying. Sydney told her everything and they stormed off.

Mitch told his family over dinner about what happened and the whole thing turned into a debate about unreasonable expectations parents put on their children. The clan patriarch Jay was placed in the hot seat when Gloria accused him of pressuring her son Manny when it comes to sports. Jay denied pressuring his children too much but Claire disproved him by arriving from a meeting he sent her on and almost collapsing on the floor. She had gone even if she was sick because she didn't want to let her dad down. In the end, the family settled their issues after discussing unrealistic expectations that parents put on their children.