Mrs Citizen Smith's opened up a real can of worms this time.

I once read an article in a magazine, which stated some of the unpaid work we women do as wives and mothers, and they included chauffeur, nutritionist, teacher, administrator, cleaner, gardener, nurse, laundress and cook. I'd like to add "paramour" to this list.

When we were children and played with our brothers, we were always given the menial jobs.

He had to be the doctor and so we had to be the nurse, or the cook or the cleaning lady.

All the things we girls played at has become part and parcel of a combination of unpaid, or low paid roles in the real world, while all the typical boys games remain games but enormously well paid ones, for example - football, snooker and tennis. The first two of which they are still trying to ban us from taking part and the latter, which they seem to have taken over.

Making us wives and mothers (two jobs disguised as one and with extensions or sub-titles) leave us no time to play, but if my husband would hold the fort for me while I go out to play some golf, I could soon become a champion, as long as I can come home to my nice tidy home (which shows no sign of children), a delicious hot meal, my favourite chair, television programme and untouched newspaper, children spruced up and ready for bed and nothing for me to do - all just as he does now.

It is not that we women cannot play games, we just haven't got the time (games of bingo exempt - that's a game of chance).

I wonder if there are more women than men buying a lottery ticket?

Violet Harper-Wilkinson

Worsley Court

Oswaldtwistle

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.