Unpop Culture

There’s a saying that goes something like this: “You don’t fully appreciate something until it’s gone.” An opposite and equal truth is this: “Sometimes you don’t fully recognize your need for something until it appears.” Prince Naveen discovered that Tiana was what he never knew he needed . Narnia fans don’t know what they’re missing until they discover scholar Michael Ward’s findings about Lewis’ “secrets.” And I never knew I needed Avatar: The Last Airbender in my life until my wife introduced the show to me.* Yes, sometimes you don’t fully recognize your need for something until it appears. In the particular case of this blog post, the “you” is Christian parents, and the “something” is the book The Pop Culture Parent . With the combined insights of its three co-authors (one whom I know personally , one whom I know online , and one whom I stalk online ), this resource explores a much-neglected facet of parenting: engaging popular culture with and for your children. In a soc...

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 ...

I tend to be a fairly methodical person. When Shannon and I were dating, a close friend of mine asked her, “What does it feel like to have everything planned out three months in advance?” Yes, I’m one of those guys who likes to schedule his spontaneity. And what does a methodical person do to prepare for parenthood? Why, read a small library of child training books, of course. (What a silly question.) After all, plenty of godly men and women have walked the path of parenting before us, so sitting down at their feet seemed like a no brainer. To be sure, our reading proved enormously beneficial. We have discovered some great resources that we’ll return to in the years—heck, decades—to come. We’ve learned many wise principles and practices that will benefit our attempts at child training. But after reading all those books, I decided to turn to the source of all that godly wisdom: the Bible itself. I wanted to compare the words of Scripture with the books we had read to see w...

When Shannon and I took our infant daughter to the ER last month, we didn’t plan on a week-long hospital stay. We didn’t plan on days of scary bouts of pertussis-induced apnea. We didn’t plan on getting snowed in at the hospital, nor on me coming down with food poisoning, nor on Shannon developing a sinus infection. It was a comedy of errors, and while we weren’t exactly laughing, we weren’t despairing either: God’s was at work in the midst of our suffering. During our stay in the hospital, we repeatedly had to suction Elanor’s nose out to keep it clear. Sometimes we used an electronic aspirator and sometimes we used a handheld bulb. Each time, Elanor protested the invasion of her sinuses with pitiable vehemence. It was obvious that she didn’t fully understand what was going on and didn’t appreciate the discomfort that came along with her treatments. And in these respects, she reminded me of myself: how I—and, I suspect, many people—relate to God. More specifically, she helpe...

Eliot wasn’t your typical baby. That became obvious in utero. In fact, the doctors told his parents, Matt and Ginny, that Eliot might not even make it to birth. He did make it to birth, but without his feeding tubes and constant supply of oxygen, he was still in danger of dying. Matt and Ginny took shifts so that one person could sleep at night while the other kept watch over Eliot. Even with such dedicated attention, his life remained incredibly fragile. You see, Eliot had a genetic disorder called Trisomy 18 . Only half the children who have this disease are born alive, due to “heart abnormalities, kidney malformations, and other internal organ disorders.” The story of what happened after Eliot’s birth is beautifully captured in what is probably my favorite YouTube video of all time: 99 Balloons , by Igniter Media . It is a poignant and life affirming story. You can watch the six minute film below. Okay, don’t ignore the video and keep readin...

Looking back, I realize I should have been more aware of what was coming. I had definitely seen enough signs. And yet the true nature of the approaching changes never really struck me—not until reality itself pulled me into its clutches after my daughter’s birth. I guess it’s like they say: there are certain things you just can’t know or understand until you experience them. You see, I was expecting to enjoy my newborn daughter. What I didn’t expect, and what I wasn’t fully prepared for, was being drastically bulldozed over by an overwhelming array of euphoric emotions and paternal affections. Yes, I expected my daughter to be like a heartwarming drink from a fresh fountain of God’s goodness. But I have discovered that fountain to be more like a perpetual geyser. I am soaked to the bone, and being this drenched has never felt so amazingly good. I should have known what was coming when Chloe, my niece, was born and subsequently stole my heart. Being involved in her early lif...

If you have not yet seen the “Swagger Wagon” music video (an excellent and hilarious piece of hip-hop marketing), check it out! If you like the song, you can download a free mp3 here .