Just a Housewife
The Donna Reed Show - S2 - E19
Donna becomes offended by the way people seem to use the word ‘housewife’ condescendingly.
The Donna Reed Show: Season 2 - 38 Episode s
2x1 - That's Show Business
September 24, 1959
Mary does a kind deed by encouraging a shy, insecure fellow student, Kenny, to appear in the school play. When she does, he ends up being paired with her in a dance number. But she regrets her good deed because she’s worried about how they’ll appear next to each other, as he’s shorter than her.
2x2 - Sleep No More My Lady
October 1, 1959
Donna is too excited to sleep because Alex is giving a speech at a convention. While trying to sleep on the plane, Alex gives Donna a tranquilizer to help her sleep, which leads to an embarrassing chain of events.
2x3 - A Penny Earned
October 8, 1959
Donna has trouble deciding whether or not buy a new dress.
2x4 - A Friend Indeed
October 15, 1959
Jeff's 'friend' Doug keeps getting him into trouble at school, and Jeff silently takes the blame for him because he knows Doug's mother constantly picks on him and wonders why he can't be more like Jeff, who behaves like an innocent cherub at their house.
2x5 - The First Child
October 22, 1959
Alex must contend with overly anxious new parents who constantly call him in a state of panic, thinking that there is something wrong with their baby.
2x6 - Going Steady
October 29, 1959
Mary wants to meet a boy, so she talks Jeff into going to his kid sister's party.
2x7 - The Neighborly Gesture
November 5, 1959
Alex is hurt that Jeff likes the new neighbor.
2x8 - Nothing Like a Good Book
November 12, 1959
Donna mistakenly accepts an invitation to 'culture vulture' Lydia Langley's cocktail party, at which Lydia mentions that she also conducts a book discussion group. She goads Donna into joining it and then reporting on Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at her first meeting. Donna then attempts to immerse the whole family in culture.
2x9 - Flowers For the Teacher
November 19, 1959
Jeff's class has a new teacher, Miss McGuinness. The boys in particular complain that she is too strict, so Donna meets with the new teacher to get matters settled.
2x10 - All Mothers Worry
November 26, 1959
Jeff's friend, Phillip, has a problem. He wants to play football, but his mother is over-protective and won't let him.
2x11 - Jeff Joins a Club
December 3, 1959
Jeff finds out the reason why he wasn't made a member of a club: He is friends with a boy no one else likes.
2x12 - The Punishment
December 10, 1959
Dilemma in the Stone household: How to discipline the children without having Donna look like a villian by meting out the punishments, or having Donna look like a squealer when Alex does .
2x13 - A Difference of Opinion
December 17, 1959
Donna gets cornered into accepting an invitation from a couple that neither she nor Alex really care for. Alex refuses to go, sparking an argument that they try to keep quiet from the children.
2x14 - The Homecoming Dance
December 24, 1959
Alex and Donna chaperone Mary's date with a college man.
2x15 - The Lucky Girl
December 31, 1959
Lately, all Donna has been hearing is how wonderful Alex is, and how lucky she is to be his wife. After a while, this gets Donna wondering if what people really mean is that Alex got the short end of the stick by marrying her.
2x16 - The Broken Spirit
January 7, 1960
Jeff causes problems for everyone else in the house due to his selfishness and inconsideration for others. Because of this he gets a lecture, which he blows off. But then these same issues end up making him go overboard on being a model son when he fears the repercussions of hurting someone.
2x17 - The Secret
January 14, 1959
Mary gets an engagement ring and a phone call from Matt, a freshman at UCLA, but doesn't tell anyone in the family about the ring or why Matt is calling. So what's going on? As Donna says, "Alex, our daughter has a secret."
2x18 - The New Mother
January 21, 1960
Little David Barker is very excited. His father is getting married and he hopes this means he can leave military school and live in a real home, but things don't work out the way David thought they would.
2x19 - Just a Housewife
January 28, 1960
Donna becomes offended by the way people seem to use the word ‘housewife’ condescendingly.
2x20 - The Free Soul
February 4, 1960
Alex's Uncle Dan takes a break from traveling all over the world. Jeff likes the idea of going to Alaska, Saudi Arabia, Malaya, Australia, and doing whatever he wants, just like Uncle Dan. Jeff decides to join him. Will Donna and Alex allow him to go? Would you believe, yes?
2x21 - The First Quarrel
February 11, 1960
2x22 - A Place to Go
February 18, 1960
Jeff and his friends get into trouble when they are discovered using an abandoned house as a hang-out. This prompts Donna and the other mothers to create a nice meeting place for the children.
2x23 - A Night to Howl
February 25, 1960
2x24 - The Editorial
March 3, 1960
2x25 - The Gentle Dew
March 10, 1960
Alex lays down the law when Jeff and Mary slack off on their responsibilities at home and their schoolwork. Now Alex is furious when it appears that Mary didn't come home from a bowling date with Roger on time.
2x26 - The Fatal Leap
March 17, 1960
Alex's wild room-mate from college is getting married, and Alex is invited to the bachelor party. Donna doesn't like this idea at all.
2x27 - The Perfect Pitch
March 24, 1960
Donna makes Jeff take trumpet lessons when she discovers he has perfect pitch. Jeff would rather be on the track team.
2x28 - Pickles for Charity
April 7, 1960
While Alex was the ""belle of the ball"" with his fantastic dancing at the Woman's Medical Auxiliary Dance, the dance cost more to produce than the income from ticket sales provided. Each member agrees to contribute using her skills in moneymaking to make up the budget shortfall. Donna will sell 54 jars of her famous pickle recipe at fifty cents per jar and donate the money to the Auxiliary. Will Donna's plan work?
2x29 - Mary's Growing Pain
April 14, 1960
2x30 - Alex Runs the House
April 21, 1960
Donna is away and Alex has to manage the house and children.
2x31 - The Career Woman
April 28, 1960
Donna's old school mate, who has been a single career woman all these years, is now engaged to a doctor. She visits Donna to see what life is really like for a doctor's wife.
2x32 - Jeff, the Financial Genius
May 5, 1960
Jeff starts swapping possessions to pay off a debt. Zack: Mike Montgomery. Mrs. Pruitt: Marjorie Winters. Alvin: Mike Peters. Sprague: Percy Helton. Paul Petersen.
2x33 - Mary's Crusade
May 12, 1960
Mary vows not to go to the school dance unless Ellen has a date for the dance. Ellen is rather plain so Mary goes to work to transform Ellen into a glamorous young lady.
2x34 - The First Time We Met
May 19, 1960
Donna and Alex have different stories about how they first met. Also Donna plays matchmaker to a new doctor in town and a pretty nurse at the hospital.
2x35 - The Gossip
May 26, 1960
Donna tells Emily, the town gossip, that Kay Watson is having a baby. Then Donna learns from Alex that Kay is keeping it a secret so that she can stay working longer. Donna is crushed, knowing that she may have let Kay's secret out.
2x36 - Love's Sweet Awakening
June 2, 1960
Sixteen- year-old Petie is home from military school and visiting the Stone family. Petie and Mary have been friends for years, but seeing how beautiful Mary has become, he would now like to be more than just friends. As Alex puts it, ""springtime has come to Petie!"" How can Petie catch Mary's eye?
2x37 - The Wedding Present
June 10, 1960
Aunt Lettie is coming to visit, so Donna and Alex try to find the wedding present she gave them so she would be certain to see it. It would help if they could just remember what it was! And by the way, Alex, can Donna buy a Porcelain Dresden figurine?
2x38 - Cool Cat
June 18, 1960
Jeff wants to keep a cat that followed him home, so can Harry the Cat stay? The Stone family will decide by using the democratic process.