List of Instant Mom episodes

Stephanie Phillips, a newly-married stepmom, tries to be more strict when her oldest step daughter, Gabby, wants to go a house party on a school night.

Stephanie tells James that lying is acceptable if it makes someone’s day better, which leads him to tell a huge lie. When everyone is called to the principal’s office, the family must find a balance between honesty and shading the truth.

Stephanie tries to help Aaron when he is bullied by another student. Maggie goes overboard helping Gabby with her cheerleading.

Gabby seeks help from Stephanie to convince Charlie to let her date. James tricks Aaron to let go of a toy, so he can have it for himself.

Stephanie starts to feel insecure about her age. James and Aaron try to bribe Maggie for money to buy a video game.

Stephanie tries to fit in with a group of moms planning the dance at James' school. James gets advice from Charlie on wanting to speak to a girl he likes. Gabby keeps in contact via FaceTime with one of her friends who now lives in an African safari.

Stephanie seeks parenting advice by starting an anonymous blog and receives helpful tips until she discovers that the “helpful” users are the kids living under her roof, who have an agenda of their own.

Stephanie surprises the family with a visit from her father, Franklin (Larry Wilmore), on Christmas. However, the visit upsets Maggie, who has not gotten along with Franklin for years, until she suddenly has a change of heart, which even surprises Stephanie. James schemes to get many Christmas gifts.

Stephanie comes up with activities at home when the family gets snowed in on a planned vacation. Charlie injures his back after taking the luggage upstairs, ignoring Stephanie's advice to be careful.

Stephanie goes to a hospital-related event where Charlie is the speaker, leaving Gabby to babysit James and Aaron when the babysitter that Stephanie hired leaves. However, Stephanie's decision to leave Gabby in charge upsets Charlie, feeling that Stephanie should have consulted with him first, before making that decision.

Guest stars: Rachel Leah Cohen as Ms. Jamison, Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Sharp, Charles C. Stevenson Jr. as Dr. Sharp

Charlie invites his boss Beverly (Caroline Aaron), over for dinner, to get a promotion at the hospital, with Stephanie planning the dinner. However, the kids bad behavior ruins the plans.

Stephanie is upset after finding out that Charlie used same the vows from his first wedding again in his wedding to her. Aaron gives away Stephanie's jewelry to his girlfriend Sam as a Valentine's Day gift. Sam then gives the jewelry to her grandmother Roberta (Annie Potts), who is reluctant to give them back to Stephanie. Gabby tricks James into thinking that his Valentine is stalking him.

The kids compete making a music video covering Cody Simpson's song "La Da Dee", with the winner of the best video then meeting Cody Simpson and attending his concert.

Stephanie cancels the weekly cleaning service, seeing that the kids have been lazy, so she makes them do the chores, but her plan backfires after the kids go on strike.

Guest stars: Tyler Michael Brown as Buddy, Virginia Louise Smith as Mrs. Mahary, Gary Morgan as Clown

Aaron brings his class rabbit home to take care of it for the weekend but after it dies, Stephanie steps in and is determined to explain the nature of loss to Aaron, despite his teacher's Mrs. Gosnald (Mary Pat Gleason) objections. Gabby gets a pet mouse and James gets a pet snake hiding it from the rest of the family.

Guest stars: Tyler Corbet as Eric, Carsen Warner as Ryan, Mary Pat Gleason as Mrs. Gosnold

Stephanie and Charlie take sides when Gabby is held for shoplifting after returning a pair of jeans with the sensor still on it. James sells unopened wedding presents to make extra money.

Guest stars: Haley Pullos as Molly; Matthew J. Evans as Ronny Sluff; Marianne Muellerleile as Pat

The kids return from vacation with their mom Kimberly (Holly Robinson Peete) in Mozambique, and then they learn that they'll be moving there, far away from Stephanie and Charlie. Meanwhile, Stephanie is responsible of hiring a clown for a one year old's birthday party.

Stephanie goes on the family camping trip to help Aaron earn scout badges, but when Maggie shows up in the camping trailer, the family has no interest in being out in the woods, so Stephanie is determined to keep them out of there so Aaron can earn his scout badges the right way.

Stephanie is excited about celebrating her first Mother's Day until she learns that the family plans to celebrate her on Stepmother's Day, the week after. Stephanie takes Maggie to a day spa and gets some unexpected "mom" advice from a few experts (Meredith Baxter, Tempestt Bledsoe, Jackée Harry (Tia Mowry-Hardrict's former Sister, Sister co-star), Florence Henderson and Marion Ross) who attempt to cheer her up.

Stephanie organizes a charity auction to inspire the children to give back, Stephanie goes to extreme measures to beat the previous fundraising record especially now that Charlie's boss, Beverly returns and helps with the charity.

Stephanie has her friend Jenny stay with her while Charlie's away on a business trip. James must complete a school project in time. Aaron has a play date with his friend Brody, and Gabby is grounded.

Guest stars: Dat Pham as Brody, Stephanie Charles as Jenny, Jessalyn Wanlim as Nikki, Britt Rentschler as Holly, Jo Newman as Jules, Angela Oh as Brody's Mom

Stephanie bribes Gabby and James when she hires an old boyfriend to install a new sound system for Charlie. Stephanie doesn't want Maggie to be negative about the whole situation so Maggie volunteers to say nothing and Aaron has trouble trying to keep a secret. Stephanie and Charlie then have their anniversary dinner out at a restaurant.

Stephanie worries that she is working too much when Aaron's imaginary friend, Sanders, returns. After researching the issue, Stephanie does her best to make the invisible pal feel comfortable.

The kids' garden is destroyed by the neighbors, so Stephanie and Charlie seek revenge, and soon the kids follow their bad example.^[24]

When Stephanie and Charlie learn that Gabby has had a secret boyfriend, they meet him, finding him to be a bad influence.^[26]

Stephanie feels expendable on Halloween when the kids make their own plans. Meanwhile, Charlie tries to maintain his record for having the best decorated house in the neighborhood.

Aaron lands in hot water with his teacher, whom he calls a doofus—a word he heard Stephanie utter. Meanwhile, James uses Charlie in his plan to get out of doing his history homework.

Guest stars: Haley Pullos as Molly, Tyler Corbet as Eric, Allison Munn as Donna Dreyfus, Mary Pat Gleason as Mrs. Gosnold, Laura Krystine as Olivia, Alan Ruck as Mr. Shank

James' video-game skills get him on a professional team, but then he regrets going pro, so Stephanie and Charlie try to get him out of his contract.

Stephanie agrees to see a dentist to help Aaron get over his fears, but is nervous to discover the dentist is a face from her past.

James becomes popular at school after others incorrectly believe he's a bad boy, and when one of his new pals does something wrong, he's reluctant to tattle; Stephanie lectures James about doing the right thing.

Guest stars: BJ Mitchell as Noah, Trevor Gore as Sam, Isaak Presley as Peety, Kyle Red Silverstein, Amarr M. Wooten as Dean, Sydney Mikayla

Stephanie and Charlie plan a child-free weekend in New York, only to find that Aaron has stowed away in their car; James and Gabby make plans while their parents are away.

When both Stephanie and James face rejection, she signs them up for a bike race to prove that hard work pays off.

Stephanie plans a surprise party for Gabby's 16th birthday, but things don't go as she intended because of Maggie's mistake with the invitations.

When Stephanie's neighbor has better success getting the children to do things, Stephanie worries about what it is doing to them.

Noah asks Gabby to the prom, but she worries about fitting in at the after party; Stephanie and Charlie get overprotective.

After reacting to Gabby's desire to get a tattoo, Stephanie worries that she is becoming like Maggie, and makes efforts to prove otherwise.

Stephanie sees a horror movie with Gabby, despite Charlie's objections, and Stephanie winds up being frightened. Her fears then escalate when James tries to persuade her their house is haunted.

After facing her fear of swimming, Stephanie forces the rest of the family to face their fears as well.

When Stephanie tries to teach James and Aaron about selfless generosity, the whole family starts helping Mr. Ebnetter for the wrong reasons.

When a ticket means that Stephanie must ride with Gabby for her to drive, Stephanie begins to get too comfortable with Gabby's friends.

Guest star: Haley Pullos as Molly

Maggie bribes James and Aaron to pretend to be her younger brothers; Gabby is punished for having Noah over.

After being humiliated by a girl at school, James runs against her in an election; Charlie asks Gabby to help him replace a lost wedding wing.

Gabby loans Stephanie's purse to a popular girl, but when it gets ruined, Gabby must scramble to replace it.

Guest stars: Haley Pullos as Molly, Taylor Bright as Megan, Anna Margaret as Emily, Vianessa Castanos as Trudi Waynette, Gabrielle Christian as Lynda Momsley, Lila Lucchetti as Ginger Skipertoo, Jacqueline Georgiou as Boutique Employee, Lexie Contursi as Hostess

The Phillips get a visit from their cousin, but Charlie worries he'll be a bad influence on James. Also: Aaron and Maggie help Gabby prepare for a date.

Stephanie asks Aaron to befriend a client's son, not realizing Aaron is terrified of him; Gabby saves Maggie's life.

Gabby uses a childhood friend to make Noah jealous; Stephanie tries to correct Aaron when he accidentally calls her "Mom."

Stephanie helps James lead a student rebellion when the principal cracks down on the dress code; Gabby teaches Charlie how to use social media.

Stephanie needs to get Gabby's help to stay on top of Aaron's homework so that she will not disappoint him.

James tries to trick Stephanie and Charlie into thinking one of his friends is actually a foreign exchange student.

James and Gabby try to make a business out of selling Grandma Maggie's fruit snacks, but when she finds out, she wants a piece of the action.

After Aaron is brought home by the police, family services must determine whether Stephanie and Charlie are doing a good enough job as parents.

Stephanie decides that Gabby needs to get a job and earn money for her car; Maggie and James try to teach the older generations how to speak like teenagers.

Stephanie blames the family for Aaron's alleged funk; they try to change their habits for a week but this only results in more trouble.

Charlie approves of a boy that Gabby's interested in, which makes her doubt her decision; James finds himself with two girlfriends at the same time.

Gabby is the group leader for her school project but when Stephanie discovers that she's acting like a tyrant, she gets involved; Stephanie somehow ends up doing all the work.

Gabby finds out that her ex's new girlfriend is using him and tries to expose the truth but everyone thinks she's jealous; Charlie, Aaron and Maggie search for a bat.

Gabby is leaving for college a year early and Stephanie and Charlie consider having a baby; Aaron and James want to live with their mother in Orlando.

Guest stars: Haley Pullos as Molly