"My family goes to Grandma's cottage. Grandpa takes me out in his boat. Mum says he spoils me. Grandpa says that's what grandpas are for. It's lovely at the cottage," said a small boy with tousled blonde hair.

"Well, my family went to Disneyland," boasted a prim young girl. "We couldn't take our dog. I told him all about it when we got back. He is part of our family too, you know."

"What did he say when you told him about it?" asked the interviewer, hoping for a cute answer. "I whispered in his ear, and he licked my face." Chorus of 'yuck's' all round.

"How about you, Annie? Can you tell me what a family is?"

"You want to know what a family is? Okay. A family is me and Dad and Mum and my brothers. Oh, and Mum's new baby. It's a girl. I know it's a nice baby and all that, and I do love her, but sometimes I feel like saying, 'Grow up, kid,' she does such stupid things."

"Anyway, that's what a family is: Mum, Dad, brothers and sisters, only I haven't got no Dad. Dad left a long time ago. He said he was going to look for work up north. The day he left, he came home with a case of beer and a pizza. He brought things for us all. He gave me a Barbie doll, but Mum says it's a fashion doll, not a Barbie. I call her Barbie anyways. I've never had a Barbie doll."

"The boys got stuff, too. Eddie got a little radio with earphones and Terry got a baseball glove. Dad forgot we don't have no ball. Terry has to wait for the kids that play in the school yard after supper to ask him to play too. Even if they don't ask him, it's fun to hang around and watch them."

"Mum got a box of chocolates. Some things Mum won't let us touch. She says that's what she cherishes. She didn't cherish them chocolates. She didn't even taste them. She let us just help ourselves. That's not like Mum. It was nice getting all that stuff, but Mum acting funny like that, it sort of took the pleasure out of it. You could tell something was wrong. Dad gave us money to go the 7-Eleven to get ice-cream, and to "take our time". When we got back, he wasn't there. That was the last time we seen him. Mum looked as if she had been crying. She told us to get to bed. It was early but I didn't mind. I wanted to play with my Barbie."

"I made a cave under the blanket. That was her house. I told her all about our family. Not about the baby. That was before the baby came. She had lovely blonde hair and a red ball gown. It had lace around the top and a silver belt. When I grow up, that's what I'm going to do. Be like Barbie. I hope my boobs come fast, then everyone will like me. Mum says black hair is beautiful. She strokes my hair and tucks it in behind my ears with her finger. 'We can't all be Marilyn Monroe's, heaven help us,' she says, and laughs. So I guess my hair will be O.K. Eddie said I looked like a witch. That's not nice. He was mad at me because I told Mum I saw him snitch a battery out of the store. It was for the radio. It don't work when the battery runs down. He got a yelling from Mum, but he don't mind her. He thinks he's too old to have to pay attention. The gang he goes with all think they are too old to mind their Mums. You still have to mind your Mum, even if you are ten. 'That lot are headed for trouble.' That's what the worker said."

"So that's what a family is. A Dad, a Mum, brothers and sisters. I know Dad isn't here, and we don't know where he is, but he's still our Dad."

"Maureen - that's the bab - she's got a name now. We had her done in church. She's starting to walk. I have to hold her hands because she keeps falling down. I'll learn her how to do it. Mum says I'm like a little mother to her. When I grow up, I'm going to be a mother and I'll love my kids to pieces just like my Mum does us."

With that, Annie sat down and went on with cutting out pictures, pictures of beautiful families waving out of car windows or splashing each other on sparkling Caribbean beaches.