Why Your Window of Tolerance Shrinks in Summer

It usually hits right about now. You started summer with high hopes, pushed through the chaotic first couple of weeks, and now you're yelling more, feeling stressed, and wondering what happened to the magical season you pictured. Sterling Jaquith says it's not because you lack a plan. It's your window of tolerance, and summer quietly shrinks it.

Drawing on a concept from her book Catholic Mom Calm, Sterling breaks down the two kinds of tolerance: your capacity for one specific stressor (hello, putting sunscreen on unwilling children), and your overall capacity for everything stacked on your plate at once. When you add camps, vacations, sibling fights, heat, and snacks without taking anything off, your ability to cope drops. This episode is the permission slip and the toolkit: expand your tolerance, drop the "shoulds" that are really just social norms, and stop beating yourself up. Because your anger is a stress response, and that is completely changeable.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• The two windows of tolerance: your capacity for one specific stressor, and your overall capacity for everything at once
• How to expand your tolerance for a single stressor, with breathing and coaching yourself (the sunscreen battle as exhibit A)
• Why summer shrinks your overall window: you added all the stressors but never took anything off the plate
• The only real "shoulds" (the catechism and the law), and why most summer obligations are just social norms you're free to decline
• A gentler, more honest take on screen time, and why slower old shows actually help
• Instituting a quiet time, feeding and sleeping yourself, and why your anger is a stress response you can change

EPISODE TIMELINE:

• [00:00] – The intolerance of summer, and the window of tolerance from her book
• [03:00] – Expanding your tolerance for one stressor (the sunscreen battle)
• [07:00] – Your overall window, and how summer piles on without taking anything off
• [11:00] – Real shoulds versus social norms (you don't have to bake the birthday cake)
• [14:00] – A gentler take on screen time and slower shows
• [16:00] – Quiet time, self-care, and why anger is a changeable stress response

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Catholic Mom Calm (Sterling's book, with the full "window of tolerance" section): https://amzn.to/4oKZRjU
• Calm Catholic Kids: https://calmcatholickids.com

CONNECT WITH STERLING JAQUITH:

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