Catholic Mom Calm

It's a wild claim, and Sterling Jaquith makes it anyway. After asking her email list what they're struggling with right now, she read more than 200 responses, and reading every single one she kept thinking the same thing: oh, I could help her feel so much better about that.

Not because the hard things aren't real. They are. But because underneath every one of them is the same skill, the number one skill, and almost nobody is actually practicing it. This episode walks through several of the things moms wrote in about, completely anonymously, and shows you the one thing that changes how you experience all of it.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why the number one skill is noticing how you think and choosing it on purpose, until you feel the way you want to feel
• Older kids who've walked away from the faith, and the thoughts keeping you in pain (including the story of Sterling's own return at 23)
• Perfectionism, negative self-talk, and low self-image, and why "I struggle with this" is just a thought you're not doing anything about
• The yellow walls metaphor: paint them, or genuinely make peace with them, but stop suffering in between
• The messy house, ranking what's actually worth your energy, and choosing thoughts that are true and feel better
• Why managing your mind is the most Catholic thing of all, and why you learn it now so you can teach your kids

EPISODE TIMELINE:

• [00:00] – The 200 emails, and the one skill underneath every problem
• [05:00] – "Do you have anything for teens?" Why Catholic Mom Calm is for every mom, period
• [10:00] – Older children who've left the faith, and choosing a thought that gives you peace
• [15:00] – Perfectionism and negative self-talk, the yellow walls, and the messy-house reframe
• [20:00] – Managing your mind like physical fitness, the "spoiled" and baby-belly stories, and the unfinished house
• [24:00] – The most Catholic thing: peace, playing with your thoughts, and raising a calmer generation

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Catholic Mom Calm (Good Mom Summer): https://catholicmomcalm.com
• Calm Catholic Kids (Summer of Kindness stories free now): https://catholicmomcalm.com/calm-catholic-kids-collection-3-kindness/
• Catholic Finishing School (join anytime this summer if your daughter is a teenager): https://www.catholicfinishingschool.com/
• France pilgrimage/trip (a few spots left): https://catholicmomcalm.com/france/

CONNECT WITH STERLING JAQUITH:

• Website: https://catholicmomcalm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholicmomcalm

We all say we want our lives to be better. But what if most of us don't actually want to do the one thing that would make it better? This episode is the mirror-moment question, plus a summer update on closing loops, a 30-second way to make decisions, a new puppy, and the letter that changed how she thinks about holy water.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why no amount of thinking makes a decision for you (it always comes down to a 30-second moment where you just decide)
• The open loops draining moms, and the Saturday-close-loops, Monday-fresh-start rhythm you can borrow
• Clean pain vs. dirty pain, and why feeling powerless hurts worse than admitting you're choosing not to change
• How Sterling redirects her own dramatic, melancholic brain toward what's amazing instead of what's terrible

EPISODE TIMELINE:

[00:00] – The school decision, and why thinking longer doesn't actually help [05:00] – Closing loops, and Saturdays and Mondays as reset days [10:00] – Cozy summer: tea, puzzles, audiobooks, and using AI for everyday life [15:00] – A new puppy, plus what's coming for Calm Catholic Kids and mom meditations [20:00] – The Letter From Beyond: holy water and the signal graces we ignore [24:00] – The real question: do you actually want your life to get better?

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Good Mom Summer in Catholic MoM Calm: https://catholicmomcalm.com
• Summer of Kindness Stories FREE: https://catholicmomcalm.com/calm-catholic-kids-collection-3-kindness/
• The Letter From Beyond (public domain): https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/a-letter-from-beyond
• Rook by Daniel O'Malley (witty, some swearing): https://amzn.to/4uxJHvy
• Spirit Dog Training: https://spiritdogtraining.com
• Octopus puzzle: https://amzn.to/3S6srQE
• Read-Aloud Revival booklists (Sarah Mackenzie): https://readaloudrevival.com
• Equip protein: https://www.equipfoods.com/STERLING

CONNECT WITH STERLING JAQUITH:

• Website: https://catholicmomcalm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholicmomcalm/

Six kids home for summer, a pilgrimage to France, a schooling decision on a deadline, and a Goodwill trip that produced an accidental gel bead gun. Sterling Jaquith walks through what's actually on her plate right now and shows the move that keeps her calm in the middle of it: stop trying to engineer a simple life, simplify your thinking instead.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why "just live simply" advice usually comes from people holding very different cards than you
• The Summer of Kindness experiment after one week (and why Peter prayed for it out loud)
• How to feel real frustration in your body without making it mean something has gone wrong
• The decisions and uncertainties Sterling is actively sitting with this June — including her own food struggle

EPISODE TIMELINE:

[00:00] – Why a "simple life" is the wrong goal for most moms [06:00] – The Goodwill trip, the gel bead gun, and weighing risk against sparkles [14:00] – Summer of Kindness update — what's working one week in [22:00] – France pilgrimage, French class, and Catholic Finishing School kickoff [30:00] – The schooling decision Sterling has to close the loop on [36:00] – Why her thinking is simple even when her life isn't

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Summer of Kindness - Family script
• Summer of Kindness Calendar - Template Link
• Calm Catholic Kids (Kindness stories coming June 10th): https://calmcatholickids.com
• Good Mom Summer at Catholic Mom Calm: https://catholicmomcalm.com
• France Pilgrimage (age opened up — reach out if interested): https://catholicmomcalm.com/france
• Summer French class for girls (coupon code: Calm50): https://canafeast.com/frenchclass
• Catholic Finishing School: www.catholicfinishingschool.com/
• Rack-O Jr. board game: https://amzn.to/4akdGQn
• Spirograph kit: https://amzn.to/43jNh1m
• Modest long-sleeve bathing suit dress: https://amzn.to/4dTVHCL
• The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher: https://amzn.to/43fIVbw

CONNECT WITH STERLING JAQUITH:

• Website: www.catholicmomcalm.com
• Follow on Instagram www.instagram.com/catholicmomcalm/

⛱️ Fun & Simple Summer: https://catholicmomcalm.com/fun-simple-summer

😎 Good Mom Summer: https://catholicmomcalm.com/good-mom-summer

🥰 Catholic Finishing School: https://catholicfinishingschool.com/

I'm a good mom. (And so are you. We're going to practice that all summer.)

Sterling had a light bulb moment while recording the Fun & Simple Summer program — and it changed her entire summer plan.

All the pressure moms feel about screen time, summer camps, boredom, sibling bickering, what the kids are eating... it's all sitting on top of one belief: I'm not a good mom.

In this episode, Sterling shares what she's doing about it — for herself, for the moms inside Catholic Mom Calm, and (in a roundabout way) for her own teenagers who definitely do not want to be life coached by their mother.

You'll hear:

• Why telling yourself you're a bad mom for 40 years is genuinely crazy — and the pilot analogy that makes it impossible to unsee
• What Sterling is personally working on with her own kids this summer (hint: it involves catching people being kind)
• Why she's sneaking into Catholic Finishing School this summer to teach teenage girls how to believe new things
• How believing you're a good mom makes you a better problem solver — immediately
• The 30-second version of changing what you believe about yourself

⛱️ Fun & Simple Summer: https://catholicmomcalm.com/fun-simple-summer

😎 Good Mom Summer: https://catholicmomcalm.com/good-mom-summer

🥰 Catholic Finishing School: https://catholicfinishingschool.com/

A Fun and Simple Summer (How to Decide Right Now What Kind of Summer You're Going to Have)

Grab FREE Fun & Simple Summer Here: https://catholicmomcalm.com/fun-simple-summer

You've seen "analog summer" all over the internet — but Sterling's going with fun and simple. Because when you choose simplicity, especially simplicity in your mind, you stop yelling at the kids so much. Funny how that works.

In this episode, Sterling walks you through the radical idea that you actually get to decide what kind of summer you're going to have — not based on what happens, but based on what you think about what happens. She shares the exact thoughts her brain wants to offer ("there's so many kids, it's so hot, it's only 9 AM…") and the thoughts she's choosing instead. Plus a peek at her real summer plans: a daily reading hour, skipping the Costco pool this year, more lake days (crunchy 11 minutes and all), and what to do when an ant invasion threatens your good vibes.

No comparison summers here, my friend. Eyes on your own paper.

Grab the FREE Fun & Simple Summer Workbook + 15-minute class here: https://catholicmomcalm.com/fun-simple-summer

Sterling walks you through deciding ahead of time about screen time, snacks, "I'm bored," sibling bickering, scheduling, plus 50 mom hacks, a thought-swap chart, and a Reset the Day plan for when everything blows up at 9:15 AM. (Because it might.)

What are you doing with your life? (The answer is simpler than you think.)

Sterling's 15 and 12-year-old came to her in genuine distress. They didn't know if they were going to be nuns or moms, and their brains were convinced that figuring out the future was the key to feeling settled today.

Sound familiar?

In this episode, Sterling shares the conversation she had with her girls — and what she told them that changed everything. Spoiler: knowing your vocation doesn't fix the uncertainty of being human. Being married doesn't fix it. Having six kids doesn't fix it.

But there is one thing that does.

You'll learn:

• Why obsessing over the future is actually a trick that keeps you from living today
• What the Baltimore Catechism has to do with your anxiety about next year
• The 5-minute prayer practice that makes everything clearer
• Why "what do you want me to do today, Lord?" is the most powerful question you can ask
• And why Idaho wasn't even a state to Sterling before she moved there — and what that means for your plans

This episode is for the woman who is waiting to feel settled before she starts living. The good news: you don't have to wait.

"The melancholy side of me just isn't having it."

A mom wrote in with paragraphs of feelings — the wounds work, the hormones, the hard days, the confusion about why she still can't seem to get on top of it all. Sterling read every word. And then she said something that might surprise you.

In this episode, Sterling breaks down one of the most common ways we use self-help work against ourselves — and why "learning land" might be keeping you more stuck than you realize.

You'll learn:

• Why confusion is often a spiritual attack — and what to do about it
• The difference between wounds work and managing your mind today
• Why seven bad days a month is actually normal (and what changes when you know that)
• How to stop indulging thoughts that are creating your suffering — without toxic positivity
• Why bad days don't mean your life is bad

This one is for the woman who is doing all the work and still having hard days. You're not broken. You're just human. And there's something available to you right now — no healing required.

He spent $1,500 on her for Mother's Day. She felt terrible.

A mom wrote in with a situation that sounds simple on the surface — her husband surprised her with an expensive gift she'd actually been wanting. So why did it feel so bad?

In this episode, Sterling breaks down exactly why a generous gift can land all wrong, and what it reveals about the thoughts we've been carrying for months without realizing it.

You'll learn:

• Why his comments about the grocery budget created anxiety that was actually optional
• The difference between him having an off day about money and a real financial problem
• How to know if you actually have "blueberry money" — even when it doesn't feel like it
• What it looks like to receive a gift well, and why it matters more than you think
• Why your husband's feelings don't determine yours — and how to stop letting them

This episode is for any woman who has ever felt confused, conflicted, or quietly resentful when something good happened — and didn't understand why.

Something feels off right now — and you're not imagining it.

In this unplanned episode, Sterling sits down to say out loud what so many moms are feeling but don't have language for: it is genuinely weird to be raising kids right now.

In this episode:

• Why so many of us feel unsettled but can't articulate it
• What skills actually matter to teach our kids when we can't see the future
• Why scrolling to cope makes total sense (and how to stop beating yourself up for it)
• The one thing we can hold onto when everything feels uncertain

You don't need a perfect plan for this season. You need someone to say "me too" — and remind you that He wins in the end.

Check out our mother/daughter pilgrimage to France: https://catholicmomcalm.com/france/

NEW! Emotional Regulation stories for kids: https://www.catholicatholickids.com/

You get to decide how Mother's Day goes. All of it.

In this episode, Sterling gets honest about why Mother's Day feels so loaded — and why no amount of flowers, brunch, or Pandora bracelets will fix the real problem.

In this episode:

• Why your family can't give you what you actually want on Mother's Day (and whose job it actually is)
• The thoughts that turn a mediocre Sunday into a devastating one — and how to catch them
• How to ask for exactly what you want without resentment when it doesn't happen
• Why interior peace on Mother's Day is a barometer for something much bigger

Plus: Sterling shares what she's been doing to get her own sparkle back, the app that's coming soon, and a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to France for mothers and daughters.

You are a good mom. God sees all of it — and he doesn't need a special day to tell you that.

Check out our mother/daughter pilgrimage to France: https://catholicmomcalm.com/france/

NEW! Emotional Regulation stories for kids: https://www.catholicatholickids.com/