In the first of many episodes to explore Jan's middle child insecurity, Jan gets a mystery locket in the mail and much of the episode is about her trying to find out her admirer is. At the end it turns out to be Alice, a middle child herself who understands Jan's insecurities all too well and wanted to give her that feeling of being special. Jan's response? "As long as I have this locket, I'll always feel like someone special".
A fourth season episode also demonstrates their bond when Jan begins to feel overlooked and cheated out of things due to having so many siblings. Alice hides an extra hamburger and a few pieces of fruit under the counter to make sure Jan doesn't get screwed out of her share.
A similar incident happens with Bobby pretends to be a secret admirer for Cindy, who wishes she were older and more glamorous. When Cindy wants to meet the guy, he offers his friend a half-dollar to play the part of the admirer...only for the kid to fall for Cindy for real and give Bobby back his money.
On the pilot episode, Mike notices that the photo of the boys' birth mother is missing from the dresser. Bobby admits that he put it away because he didn't think Carol would want to see it. Mike tells him to put it back. "I don't want you to forget your mother, and neither does Carol."
In the first season Marcia writes a letter to a local newspaper saying why her new stepfather should get their "Father of the Year" award. In order to secretly mail it she sneaks out of the house past curfew. She gets caught and Mike has to punish her by not allowing her to go with the family on a ski trip. The newspaper picks Mike based on Marcia's letter and a TV crew goes to the house to surprise him and present his award. That's when Mike discovers why Marcia snuck out of the house. He reads Marcia's letter "Even though he's been my dad for a short time, no father could be a realer father than Michael Brady." Mike then hugs Marcia.
In the 3rd season, Mike's anniversary present to Carol is a professional photo of the kids together. Unfortunately, Jan ruins it by crashing her bike into it and the kids have to go out and get a new one without their dad finding out. They succeed, but afterwards Mike corners Jan and tells her he knows something happened because she's wearing her glasses in the new photo; when she tells him the whole story he tries to ground her from riding her bike, but Jan says that won't work because she already sold her bike to pay for the new picture. Mike is so blown over by her integrity that he decides not to punish her and promises to get her bike back.
In the Christmas Episode, Cindy tells the Mall Santa that instead of toys, all she wants is for Carol's laryngitis to clear up so she can sing in church for Christmas. Adding to this is the fact that the Santa is actually a kind, gentle, patient man who handles children remarkably well (even a little boy with a huge list) and when Mike tries to talk to him about Cindy's seemingly impossible wish, the man under the suit is just as kind and understanding. Mike worries that Cindy's set herself up for disappointment, but on Christmas morning, Carol's voice comes back and she's able to sing beautifully. The coda has Cindy writing Santa a thank-you note.
In the first season, Bobby is having trouble adjusting to having a stepmother thanks to Cinderella's portrayal of the classic Evil Stepmother. He tries to run away from home, but Carol insists on coming with him and tells him she loves him as much as if he were her blood son. "The only steps in this house are the ones you go up and down." Then they hug.
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