‘Last Man Standing’: Mandy and Kyle Learn Parenting Isn’t as Easy as It Looks

In this week’s episode of Last Man Standing, Mandy Baxter and Kyle Anderson learned that being a parent was not as easy as it looks when they spent time with Boyd.

Early on in “The Courtship of Vanessa’s Mother,” Mandy (Molly McCook) and Kyle (Christoph Sanders) were hanging out at Kristin (Amanda Fuller) and Ryan’s (Jordan Masterson) home. They saw Ryan tell Boyd (Jet Jergensmeyer) to go up to his room to do his home work. Suddenly, the wannabe parents were criticizing Ryan for his parenting.

“I forget, how many kids do you guys have?” Ryan replied.

“None, duh,” Mandy replied.

“I was going to freak if you said anything else,” Kyle joked.

The two still offered advice on how to parent Ryan, even though he did not want it. Molly then came up with the brilliant idea of having Boyd stay with them over at the Baxter house while Kristin and Ryan go to Aspen. Ryan quickly agreed.

Later on, Boyd told Kyle and Mandy he believed he was “stupid,” which was why he was avoiding his math homework. However, Kyle was surprisingly helpful and gave Boyd a couple of pointers, including a helpful “moronic device,” as Mandy said.

This made the couple believe they were great parents and agreed to help Boyd out with the rest of his homework.

After Kristin and Ryan came back though, Mandy and Kyle had to admit that being a parent was not as easy as it looks. They fell for Boyd’s tricks – he told him he thought he was stupid so they would do his homework for them. Kristin and Ryan told them they have to be parents, not friends.

“Parenting is actually harder than it looks,” Mandy said.

“Like Math,” Kyle added. “You might want to finish checking those answers.”

Boyd’s parents decide it would be better for him to check the answers. Mandy apologized for screwing up, but Kristin and Ryan still praised the younger couple for helping out.

It is a good thing Mandy figured out how tough parenting can be now, since we learned earlier this season that Kyle wants to have a baby. In “Giving Mike The Business,” Kyle said they were having trouble getting pregnant because he had a vasectomy. However, he actually had an appendectomy, and it was Mandy who did not want to have children.

The pregnancy storyline was teased over the summer, but has not been picked up since “Giving Mike The Business.”

“Mandy and Kyle have been married for a year,” executive producer Kevin Abbott said during the Television Critics Association press tour in August. “Now they’re starting to think about having kids, and… you’re always told that the first time you have unprotected sex, you get pregnant. But what if that’s not the case? What if… they’re not having the easiest time getting pregnant?”

Last Man Standing airs on Fix Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: Fox