On Jan. 1, many of us will make resolutions about our health, time management, habits or relationships.

While these all have value, allow me to suggest another idea – resolve to measure your success this year by the well-being of the youngest children in your life.

Did you know that, according to the Harvard Center for the Developing Child, 90 percent of a person’s brain development happens before age 5?

This means that the foundation for lifelong learning, social and emotional development, and good mental and physical health is established before a child ever enters kindergarten.

The building blocks for the future of our county reside in the interactions we have with our youngest citizens. Key factors like resilient families, consistent health care and high-quality child care and education make all the difference.

On the flipside of this, adverse childhood experiences (also known as ACEs), such as abuse, neglect, lack of affection, abandonment, domestic violence, substance abuse in the home, etc., can all create toxic stress in the developing brains of young children.

Toxic stress is stress that isn’t made tolerable by a caring adult, and it erodes the foundation of brain development and increases the likelihood of chronic physical and mental health problems later in life.

In a 2010 Lake County survey of adults about adverse childhood experiences, more than 40 percent of those surveyed indicated that they had experienced at least five or more ACEs prior to age 18.

We live in beautiful place, but it is also a place where generational cycles of toxic stress need to be broken and resilient families need to be built and supported.

So, how can you be part of the solution in 2018?

Think about the youngest children in your life – your own children, grandchildren, nieces/nephews, your friends’ children or grandchildren, your neighbors, the children who attend your church or walk through the doors of your business.

What can you do in 2018 to ensure that these children are getting everything they need to build a solid foundation for future success?

Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Parents: Sign up for a nurturing families parenting class! Attend the safe sleep class at one of our local hospitals. Register your child for the Imagination Library and start receiving free books each month. Look into high quality preschool and childcare settings and ask good questions. Join the Mother-Wise Facebook group and attend one of their weekly gatherings or monthly socials. Find a family doctor or pediatrician who you trust and get a list of key dates to schedule well-child visits. Follow the Lake Bloom Facebook page and engage with their parenting challenges each month. Take good care of yourself and pay attention to how your own stress impacts your children.

Grandparents: Check out the “Just for Grandparents” page on the First 5 Lake Web site and get up to speed on everything that has changed since your children were born. Be a source of unconditional love and security. Keep a collection of toys and books at your house. Introduce your grandchildren to family traditions. Become familiar with local places for safe and engaging outings – First 5 Early Learning Centers, county parks and libraries, museums, etc.

Friends/relatives: Visit or call the Lake Family Resource Center and familiarize yourself with the many resources available to families in our county so that you can offer suggestions for support when needed. Up your language game when you are around young children by interacting with them using a wide variety of words and phrases and by following their lead when reading books or playing with toys. Offer to babysit, particularly when you see a friend could use a break. Make your home/church/business a place where young children are safe and welcomed. Become a Mother-Wise volunteer.

Health care workers: Learn more about ACEs and how they affect your patients’ health and wellbeing. Offer parents the ages and stages questionnaire when they have questions about their child’s developmental milestones (Easter Seals Bay Area can provide these). Keep a variety of children’s books in your waiting room.

Childcare providers: Participate in the Lake County Quality Rating Improvement System, or QRIS. Contact North Coast Opportunities Resource & Referral for information on professional development opportunities. Empower parents to be their child’s first and best teachers. Remind yourself on a regular basis about the high value of your work.

All of us: Pay attention to local, state and federal legislation that could positively or negatively affect critical services for children and be a vocal advocate. Look around your neighborhood and think about ways you can make your block, street, community safer, cleaner and more welcoming for children at play and parents with strollers.

You won’t be in this alone! The First 5 Network (comprised of local First 5 Commissions, the First 5 Association and First 5 California) recently adopted this vision statement: One day, California’s success will be measured by the wellbeing of its youngest children.

Let’s resolve to make this vision a reality together, starting in 2018, right here in Lake County.

Information and links about brain development, ACEs, and all of the resources mentioned in this article can be found at www.firstfivelake.org.

Carla Ritz is executive director of First 5 Lake in Lake County, Calif.