Maxx's mother abandons her at the door of her divorced father.
Filled with high hopes of meeting her mother at the Plaza Hotel for her birthday lunch, Maxx ventures to the posh New York hotel, but it's her father who shows up to cheer the waiting 11-year-old.
Norman plans for a romantic dinner date with a beautiful neighbor are cut short when he begins worrying about Maxx and a male sleep-over guest.
When an injured sparrow that Maxx has been nursing dies in his care, Norman wonders what to tell his daughter.
All wrapped up in his work, Norman is angry when he learns that Maxx's constant companion, Robert, is an imaginary "perfect" father and substitute for him.
Maxx holds off on household chores until her father agrees to settle her strike for the same necessities of life that her friend Karen has - a stereo, bicycle, and telephone.
Maxx catches her father reading her diary.
Norman wants his partnership with Barbara to go beyond business, but she won't agree to rekindle their romance until he pledges fidelity.
When Norman learns of the death of his father, whom he hadn't seen for years, he forgoes a baseball game to attend Dad's Day at Maxx's school.
When Norman absent-mindedly throws out a drawing Maxx gave him, she counters by tossing out some of the things he gave her.