Steve agrees to house-sit for Onno, but ends up starting a fire. To cover, Steve claims he put the fire out and is considered a hero by his daughter and neighbors before his conscious gets in the way.
Steve challenges Courtney's teacher regarding a homework assignment. Anne must stand up for Steve when his parenting skills are questioned due to an inappropriate e-mail. Meanwhile, Henry makes it a mission to discover who is the father of Rhonda's children.
Steve has a plan of using Monica's scooter to cut the line at the DMV, but his plans backfires. Meanwhile, Onno asks Anne to take Jenna to the gynecologist but when Jenna tolds Anne her true reasons for going, Anne is put in a compromising position.
After learning about a book which describes how intimacy can be achieved with 40 days of sex, Steve talks Anne into joining a book club so that she'll read it. His plan does not go accordingly when Anne admits she has no confidence in their current relationship. Meanwhile, Courtney loses an important gift from Jenna and must confess her mistake.
Steve and Anne are excited to meet their new neighbors, but when the newbies want to cut down Anne's beloved bougainvillea, things begin to go awry. Meanwhile, a teen girl who is pregnant with her second child has Henry obsessing over her.
Steve accuses a mother at Courtney's school of stealing his daughter's shoes and is accused himself of not showing interest in his kids. Meanwhile, Henry refuses to let his mom see his SAT scores.
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Steve talks about his concerns for the economy during family game night.
Steve takes over the household duties after Anne takes a job outside the home, and is shocked at just how much work it really is. Meanwhile, Jenna is accused of stealing by Henry.
Courtney's teacher recommends to Steve and Anne that the use the "talking stick" method to discuss an altercation between their daughter and a neighbor's girl. While mediating, Steve wonders why adults need school teachers to help resolve family conflicts and unexpectedly learns something about his relationship with Henry.
When an end table ordered by the Pattersons is delivered to a neighbor's house by mistake, Anne encourages Steve to talk to the neighbor about it. But Steve, looking to avoid any possible conflict with the neighbor, comes up with a plan (even using a black eye) to dupe Anne into thinking he retrieved their table. Meanwhile, Henry jeopardizes Courtney's relationship with Jenna after he sends her over to break up a date.
When Steve admits that a neighbor going through a divorce flirted with him, Anne is forced to examine the strength of her marriage. Also, Courtney and Henry struggle for control of the downstairs television.
Anne is encouraged by Steve to break free of her manipulative parents after they revoke her cell phone privileges. Meanwhile, Henry believes Rhonda is preaching teen pregnancy to Courtney.