Plot

Stressed by a recent move and being a stay-at-home mom, Teeny takes out her bottled-up rage on her daughter Robbie. Only the help of her friends, family, and counselors can stop her from harming Robbie and herself.

After moving into a new house, couple Bobby and Teeny argue constantly. Bobby is busy with his new job at a local factory, and Teeny, who has a bad past with her daughter Robbie, is left in charge of the household, leading her to take out her stress on Robbie until the intervention of a helpful and caring woman named Mary gets Teeny's attention. But is it already too late?—GasMaskProductionsBooks

In her first starring role in a made-for-TV movie, Cheryl Ladd is a young wife and mother, Teeny.

After a move to a new house Teeny's husband Bobby (Robert Urich) is ambitious, often-absent, and upwardly mobile. It leaves her unhappy and feeling neglected.

Teeny is shy and she feels uncomfortable around her husband's new co-workers and their wives. She is also new to staying with her child all day long.

Her growing loneliness leads to frustrations and she takes out on her pre-school aged daughter, Robbie (the very young Nicole Eggert). Teeny's husband ignores her pleas for help and thinks that she just needs to control her anger towards Robbie.

When Teeny talks to a counselor, Mary, she tries to change her life which makes Bobby feel resentful. Afraid that she'll lose her husband, Teeny stops seeing Mary and goes back to trying to deal with things as she did before.

At Bobby's insistence, Teeny gets pregnant again which leads to an argument with her daughter which causes Teeny to hit Robbie.

Robbie ends up in the hospital suffering from a non-permanent brain injury. Teeny convinces Bobby that they need to see a therapist together and he agrees.

When Bobby won't come to the first appointment due to business, Teeny screams at Robbie. In fear that she'll hurt her daughter again, Teeny locks herself in the bathroom and takes pills in an attempt to commit suicide.

Teeny survives the suicide attempt, but she has a miscarriage. Afterwards, she has to make some tough decisions concerning her life, her marriage and her child.

It was one of the first television movies to depict a mother as the abuser of her child. This child abuse film, originally to have been called "A New Start," was co-produced by Cheryl Ladd's then-husband David (the son of veteran actor Alan Ladd).