Plot
Chicago housewife Birdee Pruitt is invited on the national Toni Post talk show under the pretense of getting a free makeover. Instead, she is ambushed with the revelation that her husband, Bill, has been having an affair with her best friend, Connie. Humiliated, Birdee and her precocious daughter Bernice move back to Birdee's hometown of Smithville, Texas, with her estranged parents Ramona and Harry and her young, imaginative nephew Travis. As Birdee and Bernice leave Chicago, Birdee gives Bernice a letter from Bill, telling her how much he misses her.
Birdee struggles to make a new life as a working adult and mother and deals with the growing attraction between herself and a former high school classmate, Justin Matisse, who her eccentric mother Ramona hopes that Birdee will get together with. Birdie also tries to rebuild her relationship with her mother, her father (who has Alzheimer's disease), and Bernice. Adding to Birdee's heartache is her former status as the school queen bee and beauty pageant winner who dismissively alienated many of her classmates, who now rub her nose in her televised embarrassment.
Bernice desperately wants to be with her father and attempts to sabotage the romantic overtures Justin makes towards Birdee. Meanwhile, she is also struggling to adjust to her new life and school in Smithville. Ramona tries to mend the gap between her daughter and granddaughter by telling a story about her childhood. She then asks Bernice what she wants for her upcoming birthday. Even though Bernice says she does not have a birthday wish, she secretly wishes for her father to return.
After Ramona dies from a massive heart attack, Birdee's sister and Travis's mother, Desiree, sends a telegram that she cannot make it to the funeral, leaving Travis wondering if his aunt Birdee will raise him now. When Bill arrives at the funeral, Bernice believes that her wish has come true and that her father wants them both to come home. However, it soon becomes clear to Bernice that her parents' split is permanent when Bill asks Birdee for a divorce. Wanting to be with her father, she runs to her room, packs a suitcase, and follows Bill to his car. Bernice is heartbroken and devastated when her father tells her that even though he loves her and he knows that she wants him to take her with him, he has no room for her in his new life with Connie right now but promises to come back for her in the future. As Bill drives off, Birdee picks a sobbing Bernice up, carrying her back into the house. As Birdee comforts her, Bernice says she knows the letter was actually written by her mother, and not really by him.
One day at work, Birdee finds Justin outside waiting for her with flowers. As she walks to him, they embrace.
Birdee takes full custody of Travis and begins dating Justin, but does not plan to marry again for a really long time. Bernice embraces Smithville as her new hometown, ultimately accepts Bill's departure from her life, and has warmed up to Justin as her mother's new love interest and a father figure. Mother and daughter share a humorous moment when Bernice asks if Birdee plans to marry Justin. When Birdee asks her if she does not like him, Bernice says her only real concern is being known as "Bernice Matisse". In voiceover, Birdee concludes "when you find yourself at a new beginning, just give hope a chance to float up".
