Unpop Culture

Last week, I (Shannon, Cap’s wife) wrote to my past self , the self from two years ago who wanted to have children but also really didn’t. Too many articles, Facebook posts, and moms with screaming kids at Target had convinced me that parenting would drastically disrupt the life I enjoyed so much. I hope that last week’s post was encouraging as I addressed the faulty logic that played into my fears. This week, I’d like to “myth-bust” a few negative ideas I had about parenting and, in doing so, show a few tangible ways that parenthood has actually made my life better . Before I begin, I’d just like to say that I did not immediately “take to” parenting. When Elanor was born, I didn’t experience that magical heart-change so many ladies predicted I would have. In fact, I suffered from low-grade postpartum depression for three months after she arrived. I didn’t find newborn care to be intellectually stimulating or rewarding. And even though Elanor nursed, and I cried when she was done, ...

By Shannon Stewart. It was the fifth Facebook status like it I had seen that day. It read something like, “Naptime. All four kids awake. Poop in my hair.” To me, happy in my third year of marriage, it made me feel sick inside. I wanted babies—but I didn’t want to “lose my mind,” as many Facebook statuses seemed to suggest I would. I have a Master’s degree in English Literature. I like my mind just the way it is, thank you very much. So I was scared. And it wasn’t just because of Facebook statuses. I loved my life, my marriage, and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right? I didn’t see how adding another human to our household could make my wonderful life anything but worse. I know there are others like me who struggle with the same fears. There is little out there to encourage us. There are mommy blogs that talk about how hard it is, mommy blogs that practically have little hearts floating out of the screens as they revel in how much they adore parenthood (barf), mommy blogs ...

Around this time last year, our infant daughter was in the hospital with pertussis (i.e., whooping cough). My wife wanted to write a blog post about this dangerous disease, which some countries call “The 100 Day Cough” (and they aren’t kidding, folks). I’ll let Shannon share our experience, and how it might help protect you and those you love. ---------------------------------------------- We were just getting over the flu (I had picked it up at Desolation of Smaug , which makes that film doubly worthless to me). My sweet two-month old Elanor had a few days off from coughing before she started again. Nothing too serious, really—just like a cold. But it never went away. I took her to the pediatrician, and he said it wasn’t bad enough to be pertussis; I should go home and lay my fears to rest. Two nights later we were in the hospital after Elanor temporarily stopped breathing during a coughing fit and gasped out several “whoops” just afterwards. We had a mild case of pertus...

Hi, it’s Shannon again, Cap’s wife. Before you get too excited, the title does not refer to God striking Cap. This Christmas we both tried our hand at a little creative writing, though we took the challenge different ways. Last week, Cap wrote in dramatic monologue about Abraham’s experience with one of the first Christmas prophecies; I, on the other hand, wrote Elizabeth’s story like I imagined she would share it if she were giving her testimony in front of a modern church. For me, it provided a fresh breath of air into a story that can become so familiar. Hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas! ------------------------------------------ My husband and I both come from the high priestly line of Aaron, and we had lived our entire lives, before and after marriage, fearing the LORD and keeping His commandments. Though I knew the LORD was gracious, I often struggled with our circumstances. Israel was God’s chosen people, but our sin had brought about our c...

Hi, it’s Shannon again. Cap’s wife. Last time I wrote a guest article for Cap, the main thing on my mind was speaking to young wives about discontentment. Many ladies wrote or spoke to me after that post and shared that they’d had the same struggle. So now that Cap’s asked me to write another post, I thought I’d share just how I came to be so passionate about battling discontentment—or in other words, how I almost single-handedly tore apart my marriage, and how God saved my marriage from me. In August 2010 I discovered that, by misusing the Excel template of a friend who was much smarter than I, I had inadvertently been budgeting over $250 more than we could afford to spend monthly. (Math is not my strongest asset.) What’s more, we could not cut enough spending to stay within our affordable range. We had gotten married during the recession, so Cap’s company had a freeze on raises, and my grad school (in English Literature, not budgeting, obviously) hadn’t paid too well. We c...

Hi, I’m Shannon, Cap’s wife. Usually I’m behind the scenes at Happier Far . I edit most posts for grammar and tell Cap he needs catchier titles (I do what I can). I would like to say, though, that I couldn’t be prouder of Cap for the direction he’s taken with his blog. Not only for the literary reference of the title ( Paradise Lost for the win !), but also for the stand he’s taken against sexuality in movies . I think it’s a message that many Christians need to hear —and that too few Christians are willing to speak . But I must say that at the outset, I wasn’t too happy when Cap started thinking we might need to stop seeing films that objectify women . I mean, I wanted to see Star Trek Into Darkness ! I wanted to see Catching Fire ! I teach high school; I need to stay relevant! All my students were seeing them! All my friends were seeing them! But because actresses stripped down in both films, Cap wouldn’t pay to support turning them into sexual objects. Which meant I ...