I'm tired of hearing about Ally McBeal and Bridget Jones. And fed up of the whole "Successful and Single Thirty-Somethings With Man Trouble" phenomenon which surrounds them.

So their men let them down, never phone and take them for granted. So they have long, soul-searching discussions with girlfriends, wondering where they've gone wrong and pondering the reasons why they feel unfulfilled.

So they stumble from one emotional crisis to another.

SO WHAT! That's what life is like for me too - and I'm married with kids.

Or, if you want to stick me in a pigeonhole, I'm an "Unsuccessful and Married Thirty-Something With Kids And Man Trouble."

From all the media hype, you'd think these career women singletons were the only females on the planet with relationship problems. Yet I'm in one of those much-coveted life-long (you hope) partnerships we call marriage - and still find myself waiting for phone calls that never come. I've even pinned notes to my husband's coat to remind him to call when he's working late.

One Christmas not so long ago, he went along to stay with his parents and failed to call throughout the entire holiday period. His excuse was the absence of a phone in their new home, which wasn't in a remote area of Scotland, but London - which, I reminded him in none-too-friendly terms, is not short on call boxes.

And although he says he doesn't take me for granted, he does - and to be honest, he is bound to, after 14 years together. In fact, he was more attentive when I was single. Tell that to Bridget, Ally and Co.

In common with them, I'm always moaning to girlfriends, who share many relationship problems whether married or not, with or without children.

Indeed, the feeling of fulfilment these singletons feel will come with a husband and kids, can sometimes work the other way. Flighty, flirty Ally McBeals, who are now able to spend hours preening in front of a mirror, would probably feel trapped and frustrated surrounded by screaming babies.

Would they be happy to leave their pristine flats with stripped floors and bowls of beautifully-scented lilies, where they entertain potential partners, and move into suburban semis with sandpits and swings in the garden and plastic building bricks in every room in the house? I very much doubt it.

The latest woman to join the Bridget and Ally brigade, newsreader Kirsty Young, although only 29, has been whining on about the same old thing - dead-end relationships and the search for lasting romance with, presumably, Mr Right.

Well, for any Bridgets, Allys and Kirstys reading this column, I'll spell it out for you: Finding a husband is not the answer. Why not enjoy life while you can? Don't despair if men don't phone. Don't forget they're single too, and behaving as such.

And bear in mind that they become a much more acute pain in the neck when you marry them.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.