DEAR ABBY: When I was a young woman, I was a single parent. I did it all -- the cooking, the cleaning and working. My friends would laugh at how often I'd say, "I need a wife!" I didn't mean it in a sexual way; I simply hated housework and cooking.
When I started dating my husband, my daughter told him, "Mom will never marry you. Men are just more wash and messes." He told her he would do the housework. Stupidly, I believed him.
The economy tanked, I lost my job and I have become a housewife. I feel like I'm serving a life sentence in a prison of my own making. I tried to convince my husband to move so I could find a job and hire a maid. No luck. He decided that since we didn't need as much money, he would work less. Now he works part-time, and I want out. -- LIVING IN HELL IN NEW JERSEY
DEAR LIVING IN HELL: Tell your husband that you didn't sign up for the role he has assigned to you. I'm sure he already knows you're not happy with the situation. If he is unwilling to resume working full-time, then it will be up to you to find some kind of job that will enable you to save enough money to leave.