When her mother goes to spend the summer in Australia, seventeen-year-old Sue Ellen Crandell (Christina Applegate) thinks it’s going to be great. However, her plans are crushed when her mother hires an elderly sitter for her and her younger siblings. Even worse, the old lady rules with an iron fist. The children decide to revolt. However, the sitter is already dead. Wanting to keep things secret from her mom, Sue Ellen goes to work at a fast food joint for a short time. She fakes a resume for herself claiming to be much older and more experienced than she really is and applies at a clothing manufacturer for a receptionist position. Through a quirk of fate, she gets hired as an assistant to the company’s senior vice president. Although Sue Ellen struggles with her job and workload at first, she copes. At home, though, there isn’t enough money for food, so Sue Ellen steals from petty cash. Her younger siblings steal the money from her purse and buy nonrefundable items. Her boyfriend leaves her. A co-worker continually takes jabs at her. She designs a line of clothing to save her struggling company, Mom returns, and life goes back to normal.