WILL we ever get it right for working mothers? Well maybe, just maybe. Once upon a time, of course, working mothers were held to be responsible for all the ills of society. Then the climate changed so dramatically, that now any mother who dares to stay at home for longer than it takes to deliver the afterbirth is considered a feckless drain on our hard earned resources.

We are all being driven out to work, whether we want to or not, whether it's best for our children or not. Whether it's best for society or not.

There are many mothers who want to work, who have invested so much in their careers, that they manage to combine work and home, because both are worth the juggling involved.

There are women who decide to stay at home with their babies. There have been a few high-profile mothers here - the director of Coca Cola, or broadcaster Zoe Ball, who even gave up work to become pregnant, never mind to look after the baby. But it is, increasingly, becoming a luxury available only to the reasonably well off.

For then there are those who don't really want to work, but have to - whether they need the money now, or can't afford the break in their career. Many of these go back to work long before they really want to, because there is no real alternative.

This is the TV producer I knew who would ring her nanny, pleading with her to bring the baby in, just for a cuddle... or the check-out operator, automatically sliding items across the scanner, while tears rolled down her cheeks for her baby at home.

But now there are government proposals (from Harriet Harman, no less - who would have thought the woman to have so much humanity in her?) to pay parents for the first three years of a child's life. It will all probably be means tested, but there is talk of it being as much as £150. Gosh. That's money worth having.

Parents could treat it as a wage they could otherwise have earned. Or they could go out to work and spend it on childcare - pay Granny to do the job if they wish.

Some, of course, will spend the whole lot on drink and dope and ignore their babies. There will be the usual accusations of teenage girls getting pregnant deliberately, just for the dosh. But no system is perfect.

But for thousands of mothers, the scheme offers a real choice - the chance to do their best for their children in the way that best suits them.

So let's hope this vague proposal turns into reality. A woman's right to choose still seems like a pretty good slogan.

Most of all, it could be a small sign that, at last, society actually cares about what's best for mothers and children.

Now that's a novelty for a new millennium.

NO, I haven't taken the Christmas tree down yet, or unstrung all the cards or burnt the brittle holly. Being a traditionalist, I wait until Twelfth Night, which isn't here till Saturday. Christmas used to start on Christmas Eve and finish on January 6. Now it starts in October and finishes on Boxing Day. We know why, of course - so we can clear the shelves for Easter eggs, bunnies and chicks.

Happy New Year. The ads for Cadburys Creme Eggs were on Coronation Street on Monday. Better rush to buy your Easter cards.

FOR 13 years, it was a drama we knew nothing about. Ronnie Hill, a former headmaster, was caught in the IRA's bombing of the Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen in 1987. Remember that? A long time ago wasn't it?

Two days after his injuries, Mr Hill lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered. And ever since then, his wife Noreen, nursed him, fed him, cared for him, even started a nursing home built around the need for his care.

Finally, between Christmas and New Year he died quietly, never having regained consciousness, probably never even knowing what his wife had done for him.

Mrs Hill's vigil of love and care is remarkable enough in itself. Even more remarkable is that throughout it all, she has shown no hint of bitterness for her husband's attackers, now his murderers. The bombers have never been caught. "I pray for them all," she says.

At this time of year when we're busy honouring all sorts of people for all sorts of things - a fair amount of them just for being famous - then maybe we should spare a moment or two to honour Noreen Hill.

After all, what's a moment or two compared with 13 years?

HOPE all your festive celebrations went well and that you had a jolly time. Ours ended, as always, with a New Year's Day lunch at my mother's, a piece of beef vast enough to strike fear into the French and enough puddings to stock a Michelin starred restaurant or two.

You know you've celebrated enough when the diet is no hardship and all you really long for is a lettuce leaf and a nice glass of water.

WHEN she was marrying John Travolta, Kelly Preston said the wedding arrangements were getting really out of hand. So much so, that they ended up employing assistants to help with the planning - then the assistants employed assistants.

At which point, the couple couldn't face any more fuss, and so eloped instead. Don't you wish some other celebrity brides had done that last year?

IF you thought you had a hangover on Monday, then spare a thought for the Australians. They are marking 100 years of nationhood and to help the celebrations along, the Prime Minister decreed that pubs could stay open and serve non-stop every hour for five days. What a party.

Great for the Ozzies. Great for the booze industry. And by the end of the week, not bad, I'd guess, for the makers of Alka Seltzer.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/ news/griffiths.html