Jenny and Tony Swift in Sacramento, California, have five lively and unruly children, ranging in age from 11 years old down to a baby of 9 months. Jenny, a stay-at-home-mom, enlists several other authority figures to raise her kids, including a young nanny. The four boys play around the unfenced, unalarmed swimming pool, riding bikes near the edge and not even wearing helmets. They openly defy Kadie, jumping from bedroom dresser to bed. In addition, Jenny's mom, Gloria, pops in regularly to help out with the kids and is the only person who has instituted any kind of discipline that the kids respond to.