Have you met the Barkins family yet? First there is the husband and father, Dr. John, a practicing physician; then there is this lawyer-wife Evelyn; and thereafter, but definitely not in order of importance, Lizzie, Martha and George, the children - and Bradley, not quite a child yet nor on the scene but, nonetheless, the dominant character of the group. Here is the story of what happens in a modern home when the family's older and already emancipated children (who nowadays are both seen and heard!) try to take over the parental blessed event and turn it into their own pet project. Here also is the story of that inevitable but exasperating and exhilarating phase of modern child-raising in which the startled parents suddenly make the discovery that their marriage is no longer a private affair, but has become, instead a full-scale family business complete with opinionated junior partners.