Moses, I Feel Your Pain

First, I'm not particularly religious but find Moses intriguing. Why? Well, Moses frees the Israelites, leads them across the Red Sea and through the desert. All along there are those that doubt him and complain bitterly, even though he's freed them from slavery. He goes up the mountain to talk with God and comes down  carrying the big heavy tablets with the Ten Commandments on them, sees his people dancing around a golden cow, and says to himself, according to me, "Are you kidding me?!!!! I quit!" Of course he didn't, but I'm sure he felt like it. Sometimes in life we feel like quitting and it is the absolute wrong decision, as it surely would have been for Moses.  There are times in my life I feel desperately like quitting too. I wonder what a modern day therapist would have told Moses to do if he'd been in a session complaining about how little he is appreciated and how hard his job really is.  The therapist might say, "You have to think of your long-term health and well-being Moses, maybe you should find another job?" 

Like Moses, mothers, in general, pour our heart and soul into our kids and while there are numerous moments that make it well worth while, there are also those that don't. How do I know that mothers feel this way? Well for one thing you should have heard the conversation between the secretary and two mothers of teen patients in our pediatrician's office today. Their teenage children were clearly driving them nuts. One said her son suggested he live at home the first year of college and she said she couldn't fathom going through another year like the one he had just put her through.  Of course, like Moses, quitting parenting really isn't an option, not the right one anyway.  On occasion though, I myself feel like Moses coming down from the mountain, instead of heavy tablets I might be carrying laundry or bags of heavy groceries.  Looking up as I walk into the kitchen I see every possible dish out on the counter, leftover from an afternoon snack.  Perhaps two children are screaming at one another and I say to myself, "Are you kidding me?" I definitely have felt Moses' pain.