Preteen brothers from a broken marriage live with their mother, Denise, in a rural town. Ryan, the cheeky elder boy, wants to go live with their father, Matt, in Chicago. This confuses shy Charlie, the youngest, who is also the butt of bigger school kids' often mean pranks. Then he finds two reindeer on his way home from school which he believes to be Santa's called Prancer and his son and heir, also called Prancer, which he tries to hide at home.
Roseanne and Dan are called down to the school because D.J. refuses to write his homework on the board, and his teacher is concerned that he might have a learning disability. Dan discovers that D.J. is embarrassed to stand up because he is at that age where boys sometimes get involuntary erections. Meanwhile, the family meets David's new girlfriend Dinah, and Darlene discovers that David's actually having feelings for Becky.
A mom looks for another source of income, when her husband leaves with the money meant for the new mobile home. A nearby Indian territory stretches across the border to Canada with a drivable frozen river between. Smuggling?