I go into the lounge room where kids are spread out over the floor doing homework. The TV is on but no one is watching. Through the curtain I can see the eldest daughter studying in the store. The youngest daughter is cuddling the baby and singing, "Fly fly fly the butterfly, flying high in the sky ..." She sometimes switches to, "There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name: B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O ..." 

        One of the kids lies back and sprawls all over the sofa. The kid at the end moves his homework to the floor. Pig-wig escapes from his sister and crawls over and claws the homework book. Someone comes to the rescue and takes Pig-wig to the other side of the room. Pig-wig fire-hoses the floor. The kids laugh. One gets a cloth and wipes it around a bit - not too good a job, but no one complains. 

        As the kids finish their homework they begin watching TV. Half way through a cartoon one of the kids gets up and changes channels. I wait ... nothing. No one says a word! Someone else gets up and readjusts the volume. 

        Another TV channel change then someone turns on the radio. There are many conflicting sounds. Outside I can hear kids laughing, a dog barking, a guitar, and a tape of Kenny Rogers singing "Lucile." Inside the kids are laughing and passing Pig-wig to each other. The two youngest are playing a singing, hand clapping game. 

        The eldest boy starts writing his diary. The other kids ask if it's about his girl friend. He smiles. The boarder, a 14 year old girl, grabs the diary and starts to read. The boy just shrugs and quietly says something in Tagalog. She says sorry and hands it back. 

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