Lily is suffering from fatigue. Figuring she is bored, Ruth and Matt arrange to have several people with interesting hobbies visit Lily to keep her entertained. They don't know that Lily is actually busy during the day.
Mr. Fong, in America to do business with Matt's firm, is invited to dinner at the Henshaw home. In honor of their guest, Ruth and Lily plan a Chinese dinner complete with lanterns, a Chinese dancing girl and a Chinese waiter.
Lily tries to repay her daughter and son-in-law for the kindness they have shown by hiring a maid, but the well-meant plan backfires when the maid quits just when the Henshaw family needs her most.
An alarmed Lily swings into action when she learns that her friend, infatuated with a dashing young man, has withdrawn a large sum of money from her savings account.
Lily outdoes herself in her search for the perfect Christmas gift for her daughter and son-in-law. The confusion begins when the charming, but scatterbrained, mother-in-law overhears Matt say that he yearns for an old-fashioned Christmas.
Ruth and Matt have to cancel their Hawaiian vacation when an important client arrives in town. To recreate "a reasonable facsimile thereof" for them, Lily enlists the help of her friend, Hilda, a grass skirt and plenty of imagination.
Lily offers to pay for her room and board, but her son-in-law and daughter refuse to accept the money. To prove her determination, the charming mother-in-law quietly moves from the Henshaw home.
Lily takes up oil painting as a hobby, much to the displeasure of Matt, so Matt devises a plan to discourage Lily's new artistic interest, which turns out to be a pretty expensive little brainstorm.
Lily and her friend, Hilda, go hunting in the desert for uranium, but Matt is so convinced that the two won't last a week that he bets his wife the fur coat she wants that the uranium hunt will be over almost as soon as it begins.
Lily's niece runs away from home to pursue a movie career in Hollywood, but Lily does a bit of acting herself to discourage her and send the girl back home.
Lily promises to buy theater tickets for Ruth's anniversary, but Hilda forgets to pick them up from the scalper. In order to get the tickets, Lily and Hilda go to extreme lengths.
Hilda suggests that she move in with Lily when Ruth and Matt announce they want to spend the weekend at the mountains. Unfortunately, the plans go awry when Lily and Hilda have an argument.
Ruth insists that Matt shave off his new mustache and he refuses. When Lily moves out of their home hoping they will solve the problem, Ruth and Matt get the mistaken impression that Lily intends to elope.
Lily secretly plans a surprise for Ruth and Matt when she calls in a furniture upholsterer during their absence, but confusion reigns when they get a bigger surprise than she counted on.
Lily invites a newlywed couple to the Henshaw home in an attempt to demonstrate how happily a household can function with the mother-in-law as a member.
