Bernd Lackner, a very busy architect, spends less and less time at home. He considers himself a great organizer, not realizing that he would be in a fix without his wife Katrin and his assistant Sonja. Katrin, who gave up her career as an architect for the family, and his kids – Alex (17), Nicki (15) and Laura (12) – miss him a lot and are sick and tired of his constant absence and excuses. Especially Alex is mad at his father. But it is not easy for Bernd right now, as most of his clients are leaving him for others. He’s a burnt-out case, and if nothing changes, the office – which he had build up together with Katrin – will have to close down. The only person he shares this fact with is Sonja, his assistant. When Bernd misses Laura’s birthday and then – to top it – promises her a horse as a present, family bliss goes out the window. To calm his pubescent daughter Nicki, he invites her out to dinner. But he forgot that he had an appointment with Ricken, an important client, at the same time. Bernd tries to keep both appointments at the same time, which of course ends in a disaster. When Katrin takes him to task, they start quarrelling over who masters the more difficult task. Katrin bets Bernd would sink the household into chaos, while Bernd claims Katrin would drive the business to bankruptcy. They agree to exchange roles and shake on it.

Of course, Bernd has the household on the verge of chaos on the very first day. And when he hatches a scheme that would free him from all his duties by shifting them onto his children, there is war at the Lackner house. In the meantime, Katrin is managing the office very nicely and persuades a lot of clients to come back. Katrin blossoms under her business finesse, and soon Ricken is one of her admirers. As for Bernd, he’s not able to run the house and has to hire expensive domestic help, which in turn eats up the housekeeping money. So he asks his assistant Sonja to give him money from the office’s cash-reserve. When his children discover the secret between Bernd and Sonja, they pressure him to measure up to his duties as father and house-husband. Gradually he more or less accepts his responsibilities, then even handles them with some success – until the relationship between him and his kids is back on an even keel again.

Katrin, on the other hand, is now more often than not away from home. One night, Bernd plans to cook a surprise dinner for her. That evening he also plans to confess that the office was almost bankrupt at the time she took over. That very day, Katrin discovers the money transfer from the office’s cash-reserve, and to save her reputation Sonja confesses that she gave it to Bernd, who – so she tells Katrin – thought the office will have to close down anyway. Katrin hurries home and kicks Bernd out of the house.

Alex helps his father to find shelter in a flat shared by friends in the Hiphoper Commune. The chaos at the Lackner house is at its height. Katrin has to continue working, and the children can’t manage the household. On top of this, Ricken is courting Katrin, something the kids don’t like. Bernd now knows how much he loves his wife and the kids. Secretly he looks after the kids and the house during the day, vanishing just before Katrins returns in the evening. At first, Katrin praises her kids for their commitment to the family, but then she notices little love-signs like a chocolate-heart on her pillow. Since Ricken turns out not to be a pain with the children, Katrin starts missing Bernd. One day – when she unexpectedly returns home early – she is surprised to see Bernd with the vacuum-cleaner – and together they celebrate a Happy-End.