Part 1 of two. Jay's away tending to her laid-up mother, so Michael's in charge of the household. The kids don't like it. "You miss your mommy a lot, don't you?" Michael commiserates to Kady. "More and more every day," she replies.

Jr. and Claire are chafing at Michael's household rules, so he drops them all. He also stops doing anything for them. That means they must cook their own meals and get themselves to school. It also means no curfews for Jr., but locked doors when he returns home. And it means that Claire may talk on the telephone as long as she likes, as long as she uses the pay phone Michael has installed.