by Cathy Tompkins, MA | Oct 14, 2024 | Thoughts for Families
The Power of Togetherness I had the pleasure of attending the Southwest Collaborative Music Convergence in Flagstaff on Labor Day weekend. I heard 12 people create a sound environment that brought moments of great beauty interspersed within an often strange...
by Cathy Tompkins, MA | Sep 9, 2024 | Thoughts for Families
Help! We go through life relying on a variety of sources of trusted information and which sources we trust change over time. As small children, we rely on our parents and caregivers almost exclusively. Too soon, however, that trust gives way to what I consider a...
by Cathy Tompkins, MA | Aug 15, 2024 | Thoughts for Families
We had to euthanize our sweet chocolate lab, Atlas, Monday. He was 15 and in lots of pain, barely able to walk, deaf, and almost blind. All of us attended the event at a local veterinary clinic. It was very gentle and respectful. Our 8 and 11 y/o girls weren’t sure...
by Cathy Tompkins, MA | Jul 9, 2024 | Thoughts for Families
“We are not thinking machines, we are feeling machines that think.” Antonio Damasio, MD, PhD in Descartes’ Error. We all come into the world with our unique temperament. Teachers have long understood that different children learn differently and respect these...
by Cathy Tompkins, MA | Jun 17, 2024 | Thoughts for Families
I’m a long time fan of The Ladies’ #1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. It is set in Botswana and to read any book in this series feels like a brief vacation to an exotic locale every time. At the same time, the characters feel familiar and neighborly so it...
by Cathy Tompkins, MA | May 15, 2024 | Thoughts for Families
I’m going to make an argument and a challenge today. I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to teach people about what it takes to make changes to old patterns of behavior. I was doing the best I could with the information available to me. When I announced my intention...
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