Demi Moore and Bruce Willis Win the First Annual Celebrity Co-Parent Award

Rosalind Sedacca, CCT, founder of National Child-Centered Divorce Month in July, and Cynthia Tiano, Esq., creator of the Celebrity Co-Parent Awards, have announced that Demi Moore and Bruce Willis are the winners of the first annual Celebrity Co-Parent Award.

“These two parents are ideal role models for families facing the challenges of divorce,” says Sedacca, a Certified Corporate Trainer and author of the book, How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce? A Create-a-Storybook Guide to Preparing Your Children -- with Love! “Demi and Bruce have demonstrated all the qualities of a Child-Centered Divorce: responsible, loving and respectful co-parenting that puts the children’s emotional needs first when making any parenting decisions.”

Celebrity divorces have too often been examples of divorce gone wrong. Most recently there has been lots of negative publicity around the Christie Brinkley/Peter Cook divorce, and plenty of commentary about how it all is going to effect their children.

Too often divorcing celebrity couples such as Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, Hulk and Linda Hogan, Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, and others, play out in public arenas dramatic exaggerations of what many other people are experiencing in private. They get caught up in a never-ending spiral of negativity and pain. And, until now, the media has focused on catching these celebrities acting out the anger and pain of their breakups in the courtroom.

“It’s time to focus on and acknowledge those celebrities who have demonstrated a commitment to working together and placing their children first even during the toughest of times,” says Cynthia Tiano, Esq., a 26-year divorce attorney turned mediator and author of Happily Divorced! Secrets of the Win-Win Formula. “All of our celebrity co-parent contenders deserve recognition for their efforts to create peaceful divorces for themselves and their children. It was a difficult decision to select one couple, but Demi and Bruce’s commitment to respectful co-parenting for their children has withstood the test of time,” says Tiano.

Demi Moore has been candid and open about her own parents’ divorce, and how it has solidified her commitment to getting along with her ex, Bruce Willis. “I’m the product of divorced parents, and my brother and I were the pawns in my parents’ game. I never wanted that for my kids”, said Moore. “At that time, I could not have seen what a gift that situation was, but without that experience, I would not have known there was a different choice to make in my own divorce.”

About her own co-parenting relationship with Bruce Willis, Moore says, “We get so much from being able to share holidays and spend time with all of us together. The kids don’t have to choose. They’re getting double the support, double the love, double the encouragement.”

And how does Demi’s hubby Ashton Kutcher feel about it all? About Bruce Willis, Kutcher says, “He shares the three most precious things in his life with me. If I didn’t honor that, I would be an idiot.”

The other contenders for the award were Robin Williams and his soon-to-be former wife Marsha, who have publicly committed to using the Collaborative Divorce model which avoids acrimonious litigation to achieve a peaceful outcome. Vanessa Williams and her two exes, Rick Fox and Ramon Hervey, who celebrate holidays together as one family were also acknowledged for keeping the well-being of their children in mind and providing an atmosphere of love and respect among the parent figures in their lives.

During Child-Centered Divorce Month, Sedacca and Tiano are passionate about enlisting the nation’s legal and therapeutic communities to bring a heightened awareness to parents about how deeply their children are affected by their behavior toward each other. “We can never overemphasize how dramatically parental decisions about divorce can affect their children – in the short-term and for years to come,” notes Sedacca.

The Child-Centered and Peaceful Divorce communities are honored to recognize those celebrities who co-parent their children with respect toward each other, and extend a sincere salute to Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, winners of the First Annual Celebrity Co-Parent Awards for their peaceful post-divorce co-parenting. They encourage Demi and Bruce to speak out offering parenting advice they can share with others walking in their shoes.

During Child-Centered Divorce Month, and thereafter, the professional peaceful divorce community will be providing insights, tips and effective strategies for creating positive divorces for children and parents through interviews, teleseminars, workshops and other events. Visit http://www.childcentereddivorce.com and http://www.peacefuldivorce.ning.com to learn more.

Announcing the First Annual Celebrity Co-Parent Award during National Child-Centered Divorce Month

Cynthia Tiano, Esq., reformed “killer” divorce attorney turned mediator and creator of the Celebrity Co-Parent Awards, and Rosalind Sedacca, CCT, founder of National Child-Centered Divorce Month in July, have announced the contenders for the first ever Celebrity Co-Parent Awards, which were created to catch celebrity co-parents in the act of doing something right.

The criteria for the award are celebrity couples who have survived the breakup of their relationship and have consistently engaged in responsible, loving and respectful co-parenting that puts the children’s emotional needs first when making any parenting decisions or dealing with each other.

The celebrities recognized by the Child-Centered Divorce consortium and the Celebrity Co-Parent advisory board as good role models when it comes to separation, divorce and parenting are:

* Demi Moore and Bruce Willis who have worked through their problems and consistently maintained a good working relationship for the benefit of their children;
* Robin Williams and his soon-to-be former wife Marsha, who have publicly committed to using the Collaborative Divorce model which avoids acrimonious litigation to achieve a peaceful outcome, and;
* Vanessa Williams and her two exes, Rick Fox and Ramon Hervey, who celebrate holidays together as one family, keeping the well-being of their children in mind and providing an atmosphere of love and respect among the parent figures in their lives.

While court battles rage on for other celebrity co-parents, complete with gossip and headline hype, these couples stand out above the crowd for their dedication to the well-being of their children, and a desire to see them thrive despite the fact that their parents are no longer living together.

The winners will be announced on July 21, 2008, and will receive a Certificate of Excellent Co-Parenting and a trophy representing parents encircling their children with love and protection from the potential devastation of separation and divorce.

Cynthia Tiano, Esq. is co-author of the book Happily Divorced! Secrets of the Win-Win Formula. Rosalind Sedacca is author of the new book, How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce? A Create-a-Storybook Guide to Preparing Your Children -- with Love!

Sedacca and Tiano are passionate about enlisting the nation’s legal and therapeutic communities during the month of July to bring a heightened awareness to the issue that acrimonious separations and divorces deeply and permanently damage their children’s fragile sense of self-esteem.

“We can never overemphasize how dramatically parental decisions about divorce can affect their children – in the short-term and for years to come,” notes Sedacca.

Sedacca, who has become recognized as The Voice of Child-Centered Divorce, suggests parents ask themselves “What will my children say to me about my divorce when they are grown adults? Will they understand and thank me for handling the situation respectfully and harmoniously? Or will they be bitter about selfish decisions that disregarded their well-being?” Her book is based on her own personal experience with divorce more than a decade ago. Her son, who was eleven at the time, wrote the Introduction and was recently married with both sets of parents on hand to celebrate in harmony and joy.

Tiano, who spent the first 14 years of her 26-year divorce practice as an aggressive litigator and the past 12 years as a certified family mediator believes that “It is entirely possible to create a peaceful separation and/or divorce if both parents are committed to doing so. It becomes much easier for the parties to avoid the pitfalls and devastation of a bitter breakup if they remain child-focused. That includes remembering that their children love them both, and that their children’s suffering is directly proportional to the extent to which their parents fight.”

During Child-Centered Divorce Month the professional divorce community will be providing insights, tips and effective strategies for creating positive divorces for children and parents through interviews, teleseminars, workshops and other events. Visit http://www.peacefuldivorce.ning.com and http://www.childcentereddivorce.com to learn more.