Cheryl's 15 year-old cat Mr. Feeney dies and she wants Jim to bury it on the backyard, but Jim wants to go to the Bears game with Dana and Andy. He sticks the cat in the garage freezer, planning on burying it after the game, but Cheryl finds out before he comes home. She is hurt that Jim doesn't listen to her nor care about a cat that has been longer with her than anything in her life. Jim makes it up to her by getting the family a dog and giving her cat a proper burial in the backyard.
On Jim and Cheryl's 10th Anniversary, Jim pays Dana to buy him an anniversary gift to give to Cheryl. Dana buys a beautiful and touching charm bracelet and Cheryl finds out that Dana bought the bracelet when Jim can't tell her the meaning of the charms that are on the bracelet. She also finds out that all her anniversary gifts over the past ten years were bought by Dana.
Cheryl's mother is coming to visit them for Christmas and wants to stay at their house. Jim and Cheryl, however, prefer that she stayed at a hotel but don't know how to bring it up without insulting Maggie. After Jim tells Maggie that Cheryl wants her in a hotel, Maggie gives her grandma's pearl necklace to Dana. Cheryl's upset and goes to the airport to ask her mother' forgiveness, where she learns Dana only got the necklace because she doesn't have anyone in her life like Cheryl has Jim. Meanwhile, the girls think Andy is Santa.
Cheryl leaves Jim in charge of their kids and some friends who were playing with them during a Bears game. The next day, the mom of one of the friends calls Cheryl to report that her daughter came home repeating a swear word she heard from Jim. Cheryl apologizes for him, and he's insulted that she always automatically takes the other person's side. Cheryl apologizes - then Gracie repeats the bad word. Jim decides to teach her not to repeat it by making her say it nonstop until she can't say it again. It works, but at Ruby's ballet presentation five days later, she slips, falls, and uses the bad word.