The big news first: I’m out of the hole! Yay. I can do things like check my e-mail, or water the garden without getting out of breath. Actually the mowed the lawn Monday, which involves more miracles than we need discuss here. (But, note to self: When in doubt, marry a man who can maintain heavy machinery. One more reason we call him the SuperHusband.) Was back to fighter practice yesterday after about a month off — won’t say I was 100%, but wow it sure cheers me up, getting out and trying to stab people for a little while.
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Now for our topic: Mater et Magistra magazine. My first issue arrived right when the baby was up with croup — she and I went out in the early morning hours to fetch the newspaper, and look, I’d forgotten to check the mail! New magazine! Which said 3-year-old immediately claimed, and for the first few hours I was okay with that. Until she hid it in her room someplace to keep it safe.
But we eventually cleared up that little misunderstanding, and wow, I had no idea. This is a great magazine! Written by actual homeschooling parents (as the better homeschool magazines are), the tone is very practical and honest. When you read an article encouraging you to respond to God’s grace, or persevere through a struggle, it is written, you discover, by a person who openly admits to dirty laundry.
The articles in this issue ran the gamut — encouragement, general practical tips, specific study ideas, and lots of reviews. The style is Catholic Lay Intellectual — this is the place where all the catholic nerd moms gather to compare notes. So think of articles a little longer, a little deeper, than what you find about anywhere else in the publishing-for-parents industry.
The Catholicism seems to me to be just normal catholic Christianity — I didn’t detect a particular strain to one extreme or another, other than a sincere desire to follow God. In my opinion, a non-catholic who was comfortable with Catholic-y stuff might also enjoy the magazine.
The format is small — half-size, like a Reader’s Digest — and very reflective-feeling. Lots of words, smallish print, no hype, a few pictures, mostly traditional artwork. Interior is all black-and-white or black-and-special-color-for-the-unit-study-insert. (Curiously: the color scheme and general format remind me a bit of this blog . . . I suppose if you hate this place, you might hate looking at the magazine, too.)
This is a small, low-budget production. But a really nice magazine. If you like to read here, or places like Darwin Catholic, Eric Sammons, or anything by Amy Wellborn, and you homeschool, you will probably like Mater et Magistra. Highly recommended. Maybe ask someone to give you a subscription for Mother’s Day?