My name is Megan and I'm a hypocrite.

I confess.  I'm a hypocrite.

The following will completely contradict itself but I 'm not clever enough to help it.

I'm about to complain about complainers. 

December 19, 2010



Dear Mr., Mrs. or Ms. Chronic Complainer (myself included):

Please quit complaining. By complaining, you continually tell others about some horrible thing and by retelling and complaining about this horrible thing you ultimately bring yourself down and those unfortunate enough to hear your complaining.

Do yourself and others a favor. If compelled to complain, then find a volunteer who will not judge you or offer pointless solutions (Husbands are you listening?). Suddenly, your complaining is transformed into venting, a close cousin to complaining and a necessary component of a healthy life. 

Venting is a way to let go of complaints so they don't become the central focus of your mind and that long angry speech you have at the ready is forgotten. Please don't live with your woes because it's exhausting and unproductive for all involved.

Thank you and please feel free to vent (not complain) about the absurdity of this blog.

Kind regards,

Megan Keller

How the Guilt Stole Christmas

Guilt likes to tell me that my heart is two sizes too small.

Ok, I admit it. I'm not buying a mountain of presents for my kids. I'm sure financially we could fandangle it, but the truth of the matter is that my kids neither want nor need much.

For example, The Big Sister, age 11, has her own pile of electronics, including a cellphone and so many clothes that she could comfortably make it through one whole month without doing her laundry. She would like new things for her new bedroom and she loves all things zebra, but how much zebra print can one girl need? Thing 1 and Thing 2 are swimming in a room full of books and toys now, so I asked family to follow our lead and not overbuy this year. After all, I'm the lady that usually ends up stepping on and cleaning up the toys.

I love the magic of Christmas morning and the excitement of opening presents, but I'm starting to realize that overbuying is a waste of time, energy and money. My kids can't even remember all their gifts from last year. Yet another reason why I'm learning to let go of guilt and the idea of buying a ton of gifts.

I want to create warm memories of Christmas by doing things together. We love to decorate, make and enjoy yummy things to eat and drink, sing our favorite songs or hymns, watch movies and go to church. The gift of time together is more important to us than overindulging our children.

Another thing, I also worry that the gifts we give to our extended family and friends are worthy of the recipients. We try to be thoughtful and hope it comes across as so. Gift-giving, mailing cards and worrying if you've been thoughtful or charitable enough adds more worry and guilt.

It's hard to remember with all these distractions that Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. And every year, I have to remember why Christmas is Christmas.

Attitude of Faith

I must be growing up. I finally realized that my attitude is the only thing I have control over. I've been aware of this fact for sometime, but it's easily forgotten. 

Attitude is more important than the best to the worst moments that make up me. Attitude is more important than what people say, think or do. Attitude is more important than circumstances, money, success, appearances, talents or those things people respect. You have no control over the past nor other people's behavior nor this imminent course called life. I've wasted far too much time letting the negativity of the world disempower me. My next step is to metaphorically toss out The Cynic's Guide to Life and replace it with a daily reminder to have an attitude of grace. God knows that I need constant reminding.

I'm no Pollyanna and I don't pretend to possess an infectious aura of positivity. I just want to reprogram my unconscious bias of negativity to be more positive. I want my daughters to have an attitude based in faith so
I must continually do the same for myself.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

Confession #2

Confessions of a Stay-at-Homer

For the love of breakfast!

Confession #2: I don't whip up hot, nourishing breakfast in minutes. Grab something and go before you're late.

The simple reason is my breakfast efforts are wasted on my family during the week (with the exception of Thing 1 and Thing 2). I used to slip out of bed early to bake cinnamon rolls or stand in front of the stove carefully scrambling eggs until they reached the perfect texture.

I would even go upstairs and announce to the Big Sister and Daddy, "Breakfast is ready."
The response was usually, "Ok, be there in a minute."
Waiting to eat breakfast with them, I sipped my coffee and grew more and more irritated as breakfast grew colder and colder.
"BREAKFAST. NOW!"

Then, they would stomp downstairs peeved at my yelling and stuff their mouths full of cold food, running out the door and leaving behind more food than they ate. Basically, weekday breakfasts are impossible due to my family's sluggish morning routines. I can't really say anything, after all, I'm still in my pajamas.

Presently, I have an array of fruit, granola bars, string cheese, yogurt or other snacky foods for the Big Sister to select from. She's such a grazer anyway so I let her choose. The girl has been known to eat anything for breakfast, including steamed green beans once. I can't really prepare for that so I let her decide when she finally saunters into the kitchen. For Daddy, I make sure to have his travel mug full of strong coffee with a splash of milk and some manly to go food like a meat filled bagel.

Breakfast may be deemed the most important meal of the day but I'm not going to convince my family nor myself of that. Sleep is far more appealing than a hearty breakfast. I'm just happy to recognize that my family doesn't really prefer a weekday sit down breakfast. It's far more important that they're eating something at home instead of zipping through a drive-thru. Also, it's a lot less annoying for everyone.

Top Ten Reasons I Blog

10. I can't waste all my time on Facebook.

9.  Fergie is so 2008 and I am so 2000 and late.

8.  Writing with a pen is only for my signature.

7.  I stubbornly resisted myspace, Facebook & Twitter. I had no choice but to eventually join the blogosphere.

6.  My mama has encouraged me to blog for years. I listened to her, finally.

5.  I need a creative outlet that allows for constant distractions and interruptions.

4.  I like to read other people's blogs so I naturally thought, "Hey, why don't I do that?"

3.  How else am I going to dispose of all the useless thoughts floating around in my head?

2. Toddlers can only handle so many opinions and stories per day. Also, age appropriate content limits our discussions. 

1. Do you have a better way for me to inflict my opinions on the universe?