Why do women not stand together? Not only with regard to getting mandatory childcare in corporate companies and supporting each other in the workplace but we hardly support each other in any way. Yes, we all have our friends, a small group of women with whom we laugh, cry and confide in.

Yes I believe there are ways and means to 'have it all'. But at what cost? And I am not talking financial here.

Good luck to those who have money, and enough of it, to have the resources at home to fetch their kids, take them to extra murals, cook dinners, and attend to everything domestic. But still even then something has to give.

We can only keep up with balancing the tight rope for so long before we cave in a big way and sometimes dangerous way.

How many women out there suffer quietly from depression, physical ailments and obesity as a result?

I also believe that it's each individual woman's choice as to how far up the ladder she wants to climb and at what cost. Even if there were mandatory child care facilities at the work place, your working hours are still limited, because at some point(and hopefully before 8pm at night), you need to fetch those little children, take them home, spend some time with them, bath and feed them etc. You may be able to carry on working from home, technology allows for it, but by the end of the evening you still need to connect with a partner, maybe look after yourself a little and get some sleep.

You cannot compare men and women. No matter how much better we are at doing things than them, (and we are!) our society still dictates that women are 90% in charge of the home and children. Men have always had the choice, very few women do. For men it's an option to stay and work till 10.00pm or go for networking drinks, or whatever. But someone has to go home, cook dinner and take care of the children.

Unless you have a stay-at-home partner, trying to keep up with work, children, schooling, extra murals home, partners, friends and the daily little or big crisis that comes your way, my personal opinion is that it's near, if not totally, impossible.

I know my priorities have changed since I have had children. I was in a highly pressurised position in the television industry. The hours were hectic, but that was fine. I had no home obligations at all. I could work till 10.00pm, go for dinner and then stagger home straight to bed. Then I had children and became a single mom.

Although I obviously still have to work, and full time at that, I have discovered that for the time being they come first – before my career, before anything. I have also discovered, via a very nasty knock, that even without the pressure of climbing a corporate ladder, leaving very little time for my 'well-being' has left me ill and burnt out.

So I guess my final thought is this. If there are children – a decision has to be made between the partners. Who is going to climb and who is going to hold...

–T Miller