- Looking after Greg's teen cousin Jennifer nearly proves more than Dharma can handle.
- While the Finkelsteins' hippie tribe carols, Kitty hates having Greg's 16-year-old cousin Jennifer staying there during her mom's honeymoon, so she convinces Dharma that the girl would be better off with a younger couple. When they catch Jennifer kissing a guy, Greg throws him out, but Dharma resists punishing as "giving in by negative attention". They settle on sending her Christmas-shopping with Dharma and Jane as daft German tourists. After Jennifer is caught shoplifting a sweater and blames it on her kooky companions, Dharma is converted to disciplining, but she finds grounding the teen far from easy in practice.—KGF Vissers
- Dharma's free spirit and maternal instincts are challenged when Greg's rebellious teenage niece Jennifer (Stephanie Jane Markham) visits for the holidays. Jennifer's mother has married several times and is currently on her honeymoon with her new rich husband, who has been clinically dead twice already. Dharma comes over to Kitty and Greg introduces her to Jennifer. Dharma can see that Jennifer is a troubled soul. Jennifer was supposed to stay with Kitty, but Dharma offered to take Jennifer off her hands, and she happily obliged. Dharma says that she knows being a 16-year-old is tough. Dharma tries hard to bond with Jennifer including prank calling Kitty, but to no avail. Dharma calls Kitty as a rich, snobbish woman and pretends to be a lesbian who has the hots for Kitty. She asks if Kitty would like to meet for drinks or get soapy and just go for it.
When Dharma discovers that Jennifer has invited a boyfriend over unannounced, Greg lowers the disciplinary boom - and kicks out the boyfriend. Dharma wants Jennifer to have intercourse and even asked the boyfriend if he had a condom. Dharma and Greg have a large argument and Greg doesn't want Dharma to encourage Jennifer. He says teenagers should just lie to their parents when they want to have sex. And if they succeed, they win. Jennifer runs away. Jane finds her in the laundry room and brings her back. Greg wants to punish her, but Dharma opposes that. Dharma asks Jennifer how she is feeling, but Greg says that Jennifer has no say in it. Dharma says that Jennifer is rebelling for attention, and punishment is just negative attention.
As punishment, Dharma and Jane take her along on a weird shopping trip pretending to be monolingual German tourists, they are upset to discover that she has used them as a cover for actual shoplifting. Dharma gets Jennifer to return the stolen sweater, but Jennifer gets them into trouble by telling the store that they stole the sweater instead. Jane and Dharma had to sit in the security office of the store and convince them that they were escaped mental patients.
Dharma gets Jennifer to sweep the floors, but Greg suggests grounding her for a week instead. No phone, no friends, no TV and she cannot leave the house. Greg says that sweeping floors is very much Cinderella like. Jennifer threatens to run away so Dharma offers to watch her day and night. Jennifer manages to get Dharma to leave to get her a blanket and walks out the front door, but Jane was sleeping the hallway and pushes Jennifer right back in.
It is dawn and Jennifer and Dharma have not slept all night. Jennifer wants to know why Dharma cares for her so much. Dharma says that she cares as people should care about other people. Eventually Jennifer wants to leave, and Dharma won't stop her. Jennifer invites Dharma to get some breakfast together. Eventually they bond over breakfast. They do Dharma's German tourist bit again and have loads of fun.
Dharma, Greg and Jennifer attend the Christmas dinner at Kitty. This time Jane calls Kitty as the prank caller, so that Kitty would not suspect Dharma. This was Jennifer's idea.
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