Where, previously, my husband was quite happy to help around the house, his attitude now seems to be that if I'm at home all day, I can do all the housework. And what bugs me most is that I find myself going along with it. If the baby cries during the night, then there is no question about who gets up. Have I taken leave of my senses? My sense of self-esteern seems to be clogged with baby powder and baby cream!     

    But the aspect of motherhood I've found hardest to take has been the loss of earning power, and what I see as a loss of financial independence. For seven years I enjoyed helping to bring home the bacon; and money never caused a row. It does now.

    Although the decision to have our baby and for me to stay at home was a joint one, I feel totally dependent on my husband, who is becoming more and more irritated by my stupidity. The indignity of being financially dependent on my husband is something I feel very, sensitive about. Logically, having a baby ought to have extended me as a person: I should be the person I was plus the person I am, as a result of my new experience.

    It hasn't worked out like that. Motherhood seems to have wiped out ten years of varied and interesting work experience and taken me back, not forwards-a whole generation back. But the hig difference between my mother and me is that she was happy and I am not. I know a conflict that she couldn't have imagined.

　
        Text B

    Having a specia! day in honour of teachers is a fine thing. But one day a year is not enough!
    Where would the world be withocrt teachers? What hope would there be for human progress? Teachers deserve the respect of the whole of society the whole year round. But they haven't got it. What is most remarkable and regrettable is that in this great land of China, with its ancient civilization and traditional respect for learning, teachers are so looked d'own upon that it is necessary to set aside a day to show respect for them.

    Why is this? I believe that teachers' low social status is inseparable
from their I'ow pay, and poor living and: working conditions-though
these are gradually being improved. But still the state allocation of funds for education is, per capila, amongthe lowest in the world. So teachers are, in gengeral,under-paid and overworded-especially those in pre-school, primary and secondary education.

This despite the faat that Comrade Deng Xiaoping immediately onv resuming office pointedout: education is a continuous process and the pay and'conditions of teachers from the most elementary level must be improved. This statement was most encouraging', but progress since it was made, some years ago,. has been painfully slow.
    So today, who wants to become a teacher? Who wants to marry a teacher? When far better prospects are offered in other professions?

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