After Rita gets passed up for a promotion at work, she starts to question who she is and starts a garage band to capture the spirit of her younger days.

Rita skips out on Shannon's karate lesson to jam with the band and lies to Shannon about it. When Hallie exposes the truth, Rita tries to make it up to Shannon by buying her a dog. Meanwhile, Kip is determined to stay in the band against Hallie's wishes.

Rita tries to help out Patty with her love life, but with no avail. Elsewhere, Rita and Jay become angry when Hallie and Kip plan to get tattoos.

Jay gets jealous when Rita and Patty take a trip to the guitar shop and meet two young musicians who invite them to watch their band perform.

When the sitter cancels, Rita and Jay worry they will have to cancel their plans for a weekend-getaway. Rita leaves Hallie in charge of the house while she and Jay are away, but sets up a surveillance camera system first.

After Jay makes a surprise dinner that gets rave reviews from the kids, Rita starts to feel unappreciated.

Rita and Jay's money lessons fail to capture Hallie's attention once she gains a job herself. Hallie doesn't see any need to go to college until she observes how Rita's job affects her life.

Jay's friends make fun of him after Rita reveals his soft side. Shannon gets the help of Kip and Hallie on her school film project.

Hallie considers having sex with Kip after her friends constantly pressure her into doing so. When Rita finds out, she tries to advise Hallie in the right direction. Shannon invites Jay to Career Day at her school.

When Rita is called for jury duty and Jay, after much of Rita's nagging, joins a committee that turns out to be just an excuse for dads to watch sports, they enjoy how relaxing their new responsibilities are and realize they need to make free time a priority. Much to Rita's dismay, Hallie and Kip become vegetarians.

Hearing that Kip is performing with another band comes as a relief to Rita and Patty, who thought that he was cheating on Hallie. When Rita hears the songs the new band writes, it ignites a fire in her and she tries to write some tunes of her own. She has a hard time, but finds inspiration through Jay when he reminds her of letters she once wrote to him.

When Rita comes down with a cold, Patty helps out around the house. But when Patty starts forming a special bond with Shannon, Rita gets jealous. Kip and Jay become closer after they have a video-game rivalry.

Rita and a former band mate, whom she holds a grudge against, are reunited via Facebook. Also on Facebook, Hallie and Kip compete to see who can make the most friends

Hallie loses her parent's trust when she sneaks out of the house to a college party. Rita is not sure how to respond to Patty's request to let her personal trainer join the band, and Rita and Jay are convinced by Shannon to host a birthday party for their dog.

After discovering that Jay's aunt doesn't like her, Rita sets out to make a good impression when she visits.

Rita and Jay have dinner with Jay's new client Sam, who reveals his secret desire of having a garage band. When Rita tells him that she has a band with her friends, he invites them to play at the company's annual party. Shannon finds a way to get Hallie to do all of her chores and make a profit off of her too.

After Rita finds out someone has been bullying Shannon at school, she competes with the bully's mother at a school fund-raiser. Hallie buys a used car that makes Jay reminisce about the old days.

Rita and Jay both plan special Valentine's Day celebrations, in the hopes that there is still some spark left in their relationship.

Rita gets a promotion at work and makes the tough decision that she will have to quit the band to keep up with her hectic schedule. But when Jay and the girls start noticing that Rita isn't the same without her music, they try to get her to prioritize.