Desmond Tutu said, "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as your are to them."

Parents, you can help your gift grow into the best family ever by choosing the three resolutions below. Find out what they are and how to keep them.

"Acting is just a way of making a living: the family is life." Denzel Washington.

What did Desmond Tutu and Denzel Washington have in common? Could it be their belief in family? Or their respect for family life? Or their joy in a close-knit, loving family? Whatever their similarities, you can have all three when you make the following resolutions. All they take are a little time, a loving heart, and commitment to make your awesome family even better.

1.Bond with your children everyday.

Great relationships need nourishment. Nourishment comes in these three forms:

Attention
Appreciation
Affection

To create these bonds is easy. Just listen to your children's ideas, praise the good they do, and give lots of hugs.

2.Kind Discipline avoids breaking your children's spirit. Frederick Douglas once said, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair a broken man."

Firm Discipline also thinks before speaking so that you say only what you are willing to do. Your discipline should be the least needed to change your child's behavior, nothing more. This gives your child a sense of fairness and a sense of security.

3. Hold Family Meetings.

Family Meetings give your children a voice. Family Meetings teach them to solve family problems and to commit to making the family better. You'll be proud of your children, proud of yourself, and build character too.

Desmond Tutu and Denzel Washington have it right. Family is life and a gift from God. Bond with your children everyday, discipline with kindness and firmness, and hold family meetings. You'll be building strong children and creating a better life for you, your children, and all those whom your family touches.

Create the best family ever!
Commit to these 3 parenting resolutions!
Become a Character Builder!

Jean Tracy

Jean Tracy, MSS "Granny Jean" helps parents, teachers and counselors, raise awesome kids with solid characters. She graduated from Seattle University with a degree in education. She taught elementary school in Washington, California, and Connecticut.

Inspired by her desire to help the problem children in her classes, Jean returned to graduate school. She earned a Masters Degree in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Upon returning to her home in Washington State, she worked as a probation officer and then developed a private counseling practice with families and children that spanned 22 years. During this time she earned a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work.

When asked how she developed her parenting books and products, she tells a unique story. "When I was an intern counselor in an old elementary school in Pennsylvania, I shared my office with the janitor under the stairwell. When the bell rang, the children's pounding footsteps drowned out every counseling session I ever had. The office itself had buckets, mops, and assorted cans lining the walls. The light bulb overhead swung back and forth casting creepy shadows everywhere. My counseling tools were broken down toys in a huge vinyl bag. Those toys never seemed a good way to counsel kids.

When I started my counseling practice, I looked for better skills to understand the kids I counseled. Over the years I developed fun ways to communicate with kids, to help parents help their own kids, and build character too. My unique parenting books and products are the result."

Jean Tracy, "Granny Jean" is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is also an award-winning Distinguished Toastmaster and professional speaker. Her presentations, include:

1. Build Character Now! Practical Tools for Busy Parents 2. Discipline Styles, 3 to Lose and 1 to Choose 3. Family Meetings: This Special Formula Builds Character 4. Teach Your Child Success! 1 Simple Formula, 3 Easy Steps

Granny Jean's presentations are full of stories and interactive activities that will help you as parents, teachers, and counselors build solid character in your awesome children.