Question: When Howard gets home late, he mentions to Liz that he got a speeding ticket. Since he was driving on the shoulder of the road, shouldn't he have got a ticket for that too?
Question: How come the little girl didn't give Howard back his ball when he tried to retrieve it around the mall?
Answer: Most likely, she decided to keep it and not want to give it to Howard which is why she put it in her mouth.
Question: How does Ted have so much time on his hands when he is a solo dad? He is able to attend his son's karate class, no problem. He has the time to shop for his son and make Howard look like a bad father. Also, he lives in a rather nice house, something that wouldn't be affordable if you were just working part-time, so Ted probably works full time. Howard, on the other hand, looks to be working hard to get ahead in life. He has the support of his wife, who also appears to be a stay-at-home mum.
Answer: Since it's never explained in the film, everything would be speculation. There's a number of things Ted could do to have the type of lifestyle seen in the film. For example, he could be getting child support from his ex-wife if he has primary custody. He could even be getting alimony from his ex-wife. Ted could also be earning passive income (e.g. rental property or other types of investments). It also seem Howard is working a lot of overtime where Ted may have a regular full time job, but has hours set that make it look like he has a lot more free time.
Answer: As Bishop73 basically said, people have different circumstances and situations. It doesn't make sense to say that one single parent should, or should not, be able to do something, judging by the life of another single parent. Life happens to everyone differently. My husband and his five siblings had a single mother. She still attended some school events, worked part-time or temporary jobs, went shopping, and went on dates.
Question: Did Liz ever find out that Howard forgot about getting the Turbo Man toy for Jamie?
Answer: Yes. When he was caught stealing it from his neighbors.
Question: What is the orchestral music playing while Howard is chasing the ball through the Mall of America?
Answer: "Russian Dance" from the ballet "The Nutcracker" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Answer: The cop never states why he pulled Howard over, what he was charging him with or how many tickets he was issued. Howard just says, "I got a speeding ticket.' and holds up a folded piece of paper, so it's likely the ticket was for driving on the shoulder.