Sisters Rebecca and Kim fight over Edwin, the star baseball player at their high school. Rebecca wins him over, because she is a winner. Or, as Kim calls her, a back-stabbing ferret-faced loser.

Jeff takes on a student loan to cover college costs because the scholarship he was considering would better serve someone else. Not sure who. He didn’t really think it through. He saw some other kid crying in the financial aid office, and he just assumed that was the only reason they were both there.

Jeff and Kim meet in photography class. Jeff takes the class way too seriously, but Kim volunteers him to go with her to find wildlife to photograph in the forest preserve. He doesn’t get the hint at first, but eventually she manages to distract him from the assignment long enough to make the first move.

Jeff and Kim get married. A lovely ceremony, even if it did cost them way too much, but Kim had her sister’s wedding to beat, and beat it she did with an elaborate, expensive event downtown at a rentable mansion. They spent their honeymoon night arguing about the bill, which added to both their student debts.

Jeff and Kim buy a home where they can raise a family, but not yet.

Rebecca gets pregnant, compelling Kim to get pregnant so that her kid is not left behind with hand-me-downs. Kim vows to finally beat her sister with offspring.

Annabelle born. Jeff failed to convince the doctor to bring Kim enough meds.

Jeff and Kim take advantage of the crazy rising house values with a second mortgage way over the original purchase price to pay down some debt and make a down-payment for the best pre-school her Kim’s sister could find. What could go wrong?

Kim celebrates Rebecca’s divorce, but for only a moment, when she discovers the man seems happy to pay her a hefty alimony, but Kim says it’s only because she must have something on him.

Jeff and Kim discover Annabelle learning at a gifted level. Teachers push them to put her on track for any Ivy league school they can manage.

Annabelle takes a liking to soccer. And hockey. And track. And robotics. The nonstop fees begin.

Rebecca gets a divorce, and uses the settlement for a complete wardrobe makeover. Kim can only take this for seventeen days before she launches her own wardrobe reconstruction project.

Kim and Rebecca compete for most-involved mom at the high school, making weekly embarrassments out of their daughters. The competition accelerates.

Jeff fears trouble at work, but he doesn’t raise concerns when his catches his boss carrying a plastic bag full of cash out the back door, because he probably has a reasonable explanation.