Blog of Parenting Support
You are not alone
on this journey
Stay connected and informed with our monthly blog, featuring stories, tips, and resources for foster, kinship, and adoptive families. Each month, we explore important topics, share inspiring family experiences, and provide updates on events and programs to support you on your journey.
Published On: October 2nd, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAI want to discuss boundaries today from two different perspectives: boundaries or the lack thereof often observed in children with ... Read More
Published On: September 3rd, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAHow do we prepare a young human to enter the adult world ready to participate? Let’s take a few minutes ... Read More
Published On: August 5th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m continually amazed by how much time I spend considering the human condition. As a child, I remember thinking that ... Read More
Published On: July 8th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAIt’s humbling to consider what’s happening in the brain of an infant. Even before birth, a fetus is shaped by ... Read More
Published On: May 28th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MATears 101 I’ve mentioned before the value of daily meditation. Well, this morning found me looking for a guided meditation ... Read More
Published On: May 2nd, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAWhose Fault Is It? My 11-year-old granddaughter urgently asked me to take her to get two cocoas before she left ... Read More
Published On: April 9th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAWHERE DO I COME FROM? Call me Cathy. Cathy with a C, please. I have a vague memory that I ... Read More
Published On: March 12th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MALeaving the Nest: Adulting 101 I may have said this before, but just to be sure: being the parent of ... Read More
Published On: February 14th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAParenting Older Teens I heard Alan Alda (of Mash fame) say that being a parent is like watching ea cheesy ... Read More
Published On: January 14th, 2025By Cathy Tompkins, MAKid Power 101 Last fall, I spent a week with a friend I hadn’t seen in 40 years. To my ... Read More
Published On: December 11th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAI usually enjoy the holidays. I get shopping done early so I don’t have to add that to the cooking, ... Read More
Published On: November 11th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MACapacity 101 We overfill a water balloon, and it pops before we can deploy it. We exceed the capacity of ... Read More
Published On: October 14th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAThe Power of Togetherness I had the pleasure of attending the Southwest Collaborative Music Convergence in Flagstaff on Labor Day ... Read More
Published On: September 9th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAHelp! We go through life relying on a variety of sources of trusted information and which sources we trust change ... Read More
Published On: August 15th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAWe had to euthanize our sweet chocolate lab, Atlas, Monday. He was 15 and in lots of pain, barely able ... Read More
Published On: July 9th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MA“We are not thinking machines, we are feeling machines that think.” Antonio Damasio, MD, PhD in Descartes’ Error. We all ... Read More
Published On: June 17th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m a long time fan of The Ladies’ #1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. It is set in Botswana ... Read More
Published On: May 15th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m going to make an argument and a challenge today. I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to teach ... Read More
Published On: April 15th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAI just got back from a rich cultural experience. I spent 4 days with 200 people at a summer camp ... Read More
Published On: March 18th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’ve had a health scare recently and have noticed myself doing things about “the future”. Thinking this far ahead is ... Read More
Published On: February 20th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAMost of us approach parenthood with an idea of what kind of parent we hope to be. Usually, we look ... Read More
Published On: January 16th, 2024By Cathy Tompkins, MAIf you’re familiar with my earlier columns, you know that I think you are highly likely to be the most ... Read More
Published On: December 15th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAThe holidays are upon us. Many foster, kinship, and adoptive parents or guardians strive to respect the culture and religious ... Read More
Published On: November 17th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAAs I sit down to write this morning, I’m listening to an interview with Barbra Streisand on Fresh Air with ... Read More
Published On: October 9th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAI don’t want to bore you with stories from my childhood but, suffice it to say, there was plenty of ... Read More
Published On: September 28th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAAbout 7 years ago I built a 400 square foot “granny flat” in my daughter’s backyard. She had just had ... Read More
Published On: August 18th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAThe Internet says anger usually comes from fear, pain, or frustration/injustice. Let’s look for some detail to flesh this out. ... Read More
Published On: July 11th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAA good night’s sleep is a marvelous thing. I find myself cranky for no apparent reason when my sleep isn’t ... Read More
Published On: June 14th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAMine was a family of four girls, each born 2 years apart, give or take a few months here and ... Read More
Published On: May 15th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MA“Many there be that have run out of their wits for women.” King James Translation of the Book of Ezra ... Read More
Published On: April 12th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAThe artist, James Turrell, is a resident of Arizona. Somewhere just northeast of me here in Flagstaff, he is turning ... Read More
Published On: March 15th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAThis is a follow up to last month’s blog about kids who spend lots of time in their heads chewing ... Read More
Published On: February 15th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MAIf you watched the Super Bowl, you may have seen that great ad that had these giant rabbits dragging people ... Read More
Published On: January 17th, 2023By Cathy Tompkins, MA(5-minute read) I’ve gotten hooked on a TV show on the History Channel: Alone. I enjoy several things about it. ... Read More
Published On: December 15th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MA“The path of least resistance is the path of the loser.” H. G. Wells Put more gently: The path of ... Read More
Published On: November 16th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAWhat are the unique pitfalls and blessings of committing to Fost-Adopt status? Is it right for you? Since I consider ... Read More
Published On: October 11th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAI got my hat handed to me last week when I mentioned the importance of SELF CARE. Someone who has ... Read More
Published On: August 15th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAI cleaned out a storage unit recently. When I closed my house in Phoenix and built my little cottage in ... Read More
Published On: July 15th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAIn about 400 B.C., Hippocrates wrote an ancient version of the title of this blog. He went on to say ... Read More
Published On: June 16th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAThis idea has many shapes: Choice Overload, Post Event Collapse Syndrome, Analysis Paralysis, and Information Overload but they all have ... Read More
Published On: May 16th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MATransitions are part of life. There is this very cool concept called the Liminal Space. It is that period ... Read More
Published On: April 14th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAIf Dissociation is a disconnection between surroundings, one’s thoughts, memories, or actions then it is familiar to all of us. ... Read More
Published On: March 17th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAFoster parents have a unique role in a foster child’s life. It is, by definition, a time limited relationship. Can ... Read More
Published On: February 14th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m no expert in the field of neurology but I wrote my Master’s Thesis on Adolescence and spent many years ... Read More
Published On: January 12th, 2022By Cathy Tompkins, MAOne’s mental health is a fluid element of life. It includes our emotional well-being, our social relationships and our inner ... Read More
- Published On: December 20th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MA
Family is an important part of nearly everyone’s life. For most, your family members are the people that support you, ... Read More
- Published On: December 16th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MA
The trauma that occurred within a child’s first few months or even in utero can have a lasting impact on ... Read More
Published On: December 15th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m going to focus on a concept possibly unfamiliar but worth your attention. Dosing is a word used by Dr. ... Read More
Published On: November 11th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAI should apologize now. This feels more like a term paper than a blog but in my effort to be ... Read More
- Published On: October 28th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MA
Parents who adopt a child from foster care enrich their own as well as a child’s life by providing that ... Read More
Published On: October 11th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAI used to explain way too much by referring to hypervigilance. These days, I’ve come to understand better the variety ... Read More
Published On: September 9th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAWe’ve gotten glib about this very complicated issue. “I identify as she/her, white, mother and Texan.” Or “I identify as ... Read More
Published On: August 16th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAI usually talk to you about how to take care of yourself first so you can take care of others. ... Read More
Published On: July 15th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAI have to remind myself to offer my credentials occasionally to those readers who may wonder why I write the ... Read More
Published On: June 15th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MASkin color matters. Hair texture matters. History matters. I know I risk angering some readers with these ideas but that ... Read More
Published On: May 13th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAWe are into this pandemic for over a year. I hope you are able to get vaccinated. So many of ... Read More
Published On: April 14th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAWhen I’m not annoyed, irritable, distracted, angry, hungry, or otherwise dysregulated, it is pretty cool what my neocortex can come ... Read More
Published On: March 11th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAOn a recent call, an AZAFAP foster mom shared that the three girls who have lived with her for 3 ... Read More
Published On: February 11th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAChanges, Some Small, Some Huge Part of what you do as a parent to a child with a history of ... Read More
Published On: January 12th, 2021By Cathy Tompkins, MAI remember a 15-year-old girl and her mother. I always held family therapy with everyone in the same room. Some ... Read More
Published On: December 23rd, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’ve been procrastinating about this blog and wasn’t sure why. I usually really look forward to this. I realized the ... Read More
Published On: November 11th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAAs a new mom, I once decided that I would measure my success as a mother by whether my children ... Read More
Published On: October 12th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MA[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″] I love it when someone trusts me enough to ask for what they want! My mind ... Read More
Published On: September 9th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAIt is hard to ignore what this pandemic means to me and my family. Certainly, it has changed how we ... Read More
Published On: August 4th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAThe other day my grandson, Max, 4, said, “Nana, when are we going to the Show and Tell House?” We ... Read More
Published On: July 31st, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MA[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_gallery _builder_version=”3.19.3″ gallery_ids=”1190,1191,1192,1193,1194″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” show_title_and_caption=”off” orientation=”portrait” /][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″] Premier Members enjoyed the azafap virtual picnic event state-wide at ... Read More
Published On: July 24th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m thinking a lot about what it means to have a traumatized teen enter my home. I’ve told him that ... Read More
Published On: June 4th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAOff my chest Whose journey is this? Who is the traveler and who are the attendants on their journey? We ... Read More
Published On: May 6th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAThe longer this stay at home situation is necessary the more likely our coping mechanisms will get stretched thin. AZAFAP ... Read More
Published On: April 7th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAThere is so much contrast between how each of us is experiencing this COVID19 shut down. I’m sitting at my ... Read More
Published On: March 9th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAFamily Camp means different things to different people. For the children, it can mean the company of others whose journey ... Read More
Published On: February 10th, 2020By Cathy Tompkins, MAI have been responsible for the oversight and management of large groups and small groups of employees over the span ... Read More
Published On: December 6th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MAI sat with foster and adoptive parents at AZAFAP’s Family Camp in Prescott a few weeks ago. I’ve been attending ... Read More
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Published On: October 15th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MA
I moved from a large city to a small rural college town 4 years ago. I have kept busy with ... Read More
Published On: September 15th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MAI remember a teen I worked with long ago; some people just stay with you forever for lots of different ... Read More
Published On: August 15th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MAKris Jacober, Linda Bee and Nancy Williams recently went to Las Vegas to bring this home! The work of AZAFAP ... Read More
Published On: July 12th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MAI saw a wonderful piece of research the other day out of Harvard (https://medium.com/thrive-global/this-75-year-harvard-study-reveals-the-secret-to-happiness-and-success-3cf0002510fe). It followed 456 poor people in ... Read More
Published On: May 24th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MA[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″] The work of a foster parent is so very underestimated. The work of any caregiver is ... Read More
Published On: February 20th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MAWhat does love look like for a 3-year-old boy whose mother is in jail? As the Director of Family Support ... Read More
Published On: January 15th, 2019By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m an intermittent reader. For years I will read voraciously but sometimes I hit dry spells and struggle to get ... Read More
Published On: December 5th, 2018By Cathy Tompkins, MAI remember finally reaching the checkout counter of our neighborhood Blockbuster Video one Saturday evening (I know, I’m dating myself). ... Read More
Published On: November 20th, 2018By Cathy Tompkins, MAI remember several times when daddy was flat broke. He kept me out of school to parade me before the ... Read More
Published On: October 14th, 2018By Cathy Tompkins, MAI’m moved to explore something I have some personal experience with that I hope will be relevant to you. As ... Read More
Published On: March 16th, 2016By Cathy Tompkins, MA-
Published On: March 15th, 2016By Cathy Tompkins, MA
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Published On: March 15th, 2016By Cathy Tompkins, MA
