I know they were paid better than me and just had to lump it because there has been no administration so far who has addressed the issue unequal salaries.

[Daphne – You are wrong. Equal pay for equal work has been the law for years. You had a case and you should have taken it up. At least pay is something you can prove, unless the ‘subtle’ discrimination and constant undermining that so many women have to endure in so many places of work.]

I was more qualified than my collegues and yet it did not count. I did not skive work and did my job well. I sacrificed my personal life postponing motherhood because of the job I was unappreciated for and it is one of my deepest regrets.

I feel that some women choose to stay home simply because their experience of motherhood out-beats the work experience.

And what about Qormi Mayor aka Nuxellina. Did she get a post with the government or private sector? She was in the front line.

At last someone with a different opinion – there should not be any hard and fast rules on this. If the couple are happy and their life is organised in their particular way good luck to them.

I have an 11 month old baby and no, I don’t talk only about nappies, sterilizers etc. I do work – it’s a 24/7 job which does not get real pay at the end of the month.

I think now we are discriminating the other way round; if you don’t go back to work you’re going to end up as a fat stupid woman.

My husband is a hands-on father and spends lots of his free time with our daughter, and never dreamed of going to boys’ nights etc.

I think you are making too many sweeping statements. One should ask, if I go back to work what are the options?

Not everyone one has family support to keep the baby.

So some opt to stay home and do the job themselves instead of dumping the baby at a child care and end up working for the child care.

I use both black and white taxis; with the latter speak to the driver in Maltese and agree on fare before stepping into taxi.

As for paying for parking, ma tarax; how many times friends have arrived really very late and spoilt everybody’s evening as the driver (usually the husband) insisted on finding a parking slot usually about a mile away.

It is certainly easier staying home and taking care of children and the home.

It takes a lot of stamina to go back out there.

The scary thing is that amongst all my friends I’m one of the only ones who went back to work after having a child. They end up talking nappies, sterilisers, babysensory classes, meeting at the Kitchen Garden, baby has a tooth etc… and I’m thinking, goodness, if this is all they can talk about then no wonder their husbands love going on endless boys’ nights, boys’ trips etc.

Agree with you completely. Have you ever been in a group abroad (not family) trying to find and agree on a restaurant, excluding hamburger joints? The mantra is to save on food and accomodation so as to spend more on shopping.

To be fair, though, my experience of taxis in Malta is not a good one; they tend to over-charge and try to take advantage of foreigners.

I try to avoid them because I just don’t get a good return for the money I pay. Thankfully, I know this isn’t the case in most cases abroad, so I do make use of taxi services there.

But I also understand where the inherent dislike for taxis in Malta comes from and/or why it is exacerbated.

There, I’ve said it.

And by stupid I mean women who rely on their husbands for everything – the house budget, which bloody cable service to use, permission to buy a dress for the feast (please shoot me), and if she’s really lucky, he’ll even buy her a matching bag and shoes.

There is no amount of free time (something I sorely need) that can compensate for living like this.

If you’re that stupid to rely on pocket money in adulthood and have no autonomy, and you don’t have a certain level of education, then you haven’t got the wits to get a proper education now. Your critical thinking is not developed enough. It’s already too late.