Scary monsters in her room send Ally scurrying nightly to the safety of her parents' bed, so sleep-deprived Ray decides it's time to call in an expert -- his mother. But if Debra finds out about his plan, it could be lights out for him.

After Raymond begrudgingly agrees to be the auctioneer at the Our Lady of Faith School auction for new playground equipment, he’s pleasantly surprised with the laughs he gets at Debra’s expense. Debra warns him that she’s going to get even, and then retracts her threat, but it’s too late for Ray — he’s convinced of a conspiracy and terrified of soda in his face, Ben Gay in his shorts or ex-lax in his brownies. Eventually, Debra is able to get her message across — without having to resort to any of those tactics.

When Debra’s mother comes to visit the family for a week, Debra finds herself shocked to discover that she wishes her mom were more like Marie. Debra’s highly anticipated week of “quality time” with her mom, Lois, and the family quickly turns into a big disappointment when her mother seems more interested in the Renoir exhibit and her crossword puzzles than in Debra, Ray and the children. When her frustration with Lois’ disinterest reaches a boiling point, Debra makes the mistake of blurting out that she wishes her mother were more like Marie. Then she has the unfortunate double trouble of making amends with her mom — and dealing not only with Marie’s glee, but also with her claim that she deserves credit for teaching Debra parenting skills.

After Debra suggests that she might be more consistently romantic if she weren’t in charge of the birth control, Ray decides to make the drastic move of “cutting the wires.” But after a discussion with Robert, and other top “medical experts” he chickens out, but does muster enough bravery to go to the drugstore and buy “the stuff.” He even goes crazy and splurges on “the rainbow pack” but the plan for Halloween romance goes awry when Grandpa distributes the “chocolate coins in brightly colored wrappers” that he found to the remaining trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood.

Since Debra’s parents will be out of the country on Thanksgiving Day — in Turkey — Debra, Ray and the kids make plans to spend the holiday at Frank and Marie’s house. But their dreams of turkey with sausage stuffing and yams with marshmallows on top are quickly shattered by Marie’s new heart-healthy diet. After she gets her hands on “101 Healthy Things To Do in the Kitchen,” life as the Barones have known it seems to be gone.

Everywhere Ray looks, beautiful women are coming out of the woodwork to stop by and say “hi” to new tenant Robert. It’s the best looking “welcome wagon” Ray has ever seen. Unbeknownst to Debra, who believes him when he tells her that the brotherly visits are an attempt to cheer up a lonely, homesick Robert, Ray is having the time of his life pretending to live the carefree life of a bachelor – that is, until Debra shows up unexpectedly.

Ray is overjoyed by the reaction he is getting from friends and family who received a personalized “Barone” toaster from him as a gift — even Debra’s pretentious parents are thrilled with it. But, having heard nothing from his parents, Ray confronts Frank and Marie, the two people whose approval matters most, and is amazed beyond belief to hear what they did with the gift — and then what they resort to in order to get it back.

When Debra and the kids go away for the weekend, Ray is forced to confront the real reason he doesn’t want to stay home alone. What should have been a couple of days of bachelor living and freedom from responsibility for Ray instead turns into a harrowing experience — that can be traced all the way back to his childhood. Rather than enjoying the rare peace and solitude at his own home, Ray actually chooses to head across the street and spend time with Marie.

Trying to impress Robert when they visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Ray uses his “weight” as a sports writer for Newsday to jump to the front of the line to meet the members of the ’69 Miracle New York Mets. Members of the ’69 World Champion Mets appear as themselves.

Debra and Ray feel tremendous pressure to show each other a good time on a romantic weekend getaway in Vermont. From the moment they set foot in the quaint bed and breakfast, it’s apparent that Debra and Ray are trying a bit too hard for this to be a perfect weekend. Debra agrees to a tour of the Ben and Jerry ice cream factory while Ray suggests they check out a local antique fair. Meanwhile, Marie spies on Robert, who is left to babysit for the kids.

When Debra gets a part-time job in the big city, an unhappy Ray is left to fend for himself — and Marie is left wondering what’s to become of the children, the house and her beloved son now that they will be neglected. However, Ray’s misguided attempt to be more supportive of Debra threatens to put an end to her career before it even starts.

When Ray and Debra realize they're nicer to strangers than to each other they vow to change their ways.

Ray and Debra's plan of getting Frank and Marie their own friends backfires when instead of going to their house they bring their friends to Ray and Debra's.

Ray finds it hard to understand why Debra needs her ""alone time."" When Debra realizes that all her time is spent with the kids, Ray and his family, she implores Ray to take the kids out more often so that she can have more time to herself. Of course, this makes Marie think that something must be wrong in their marriage, despite Ray's assurances. However, when Ray spies on Debra to see what she actually does with her ""alone time,"" he is not so sure all is okay.

Still recuperating from his recent run-in with a bull, a cantankerous Robert is driving everyone crazy with his mean-spirited and nasty behavior. When Robert is told by his doctor that he will need two more weeks of convalescing at his parents' home before he can return to living on his own, everyone figures that's the reason for his foul attitude. But Debra gets to the heart of the matter when, playing amateur psychiatrist, she uncovers the real reason behind Robert's cruel conduct.