Keeping Kids Safe Online
Talk with your kids – Educate them on safe online practices, such as:
- Never reveal personal information such as their address and age
- Use screen names (not full names)
- Don’t share passwords
- Never meet anyone from online in person
- For threatening or hurtful messages, stop, block, and tell (a parent or guardian)
- For older kids that post on socials, discuss how it can be shared with anyone, at any time.
Controls – A child’s online experience can be controlled in various ways, such as:
- Confine device use to common areas
- Install child-safe browsers
- Set privacy settings to the highest level
- Cover webcams when not in use
- Install parent controls that block certain sites and restrict personal information from being sent
- “Follow” them on socials to monitor their online activity.
Notice if your child is spending long hours online, especially at night, suddenly turning off their device when you walk into the room, withdrawing, or is secretive about what they are doing online, as these could be signs that they are being targeted by an online predator.
Planning for a Spring Reno
To begin, it’s best to create a budget, determining how much you can afford to spend, including wiggle room for unexpected costs. There’s no telling what you may uncover behind a wall, above a ceiling, or under a floor.
After you know what you can afford, shop around for a contractor. Get at least three quotes from reputable contractors. Ensure that they understand your vision and budget.
Discuss a timeline with the contractor. Have a projected end date for the project and plan backward so you know how much time will be needed to complete the project.
After you have secured a contractor, make all material decisions early. Decide on style, colors, and sizes so the materials can be ordered well ahead of time in case of delays.
Also, consider how your reno may affect living arrangements. Will you need to rearrange how you live (e.g., live without a kitchen or bathroom) and if so, how will you manage that? Will you need to move somewhere else temporarily?
With some thoughtful preplanning, you will be in a much better position to secure a reputable contractor and have the renovation go smoothly, staying within your budget, and realizing your vision.
Bringing Nature Indoors: The Benefits of House Plants
The first day of winter will be arriving this month and depending on where you live, you may start spending more time indoors. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t bring the outside in. House plants are a great way to do that, and they have benefits for you as well, such as:
- Reduced anxiety – One study used two groups that each transplanted a house plant and then did a computer task. Findings showed that at the end of transplanting, participants had a noted decrease in blood pressure compared to when they did the computer task.
- Improved productivity – Another study found that when plants were added to a windowless lab, college students worked 12 per cent faster.
- Increased happiness – People who spent 5 to 10 minutes in a room with a few house plants were reported in an experiment to feel happier than people who spent time in a room with no plants.
- Sharpened attention – When elementary-aged students were placed in separate classrooms, one with a real plant, one with an artificial plant, and one with a photo of a plant, a study found the students in the room with the real plant showed improvements in attention and concentration in brain scans.
So, if you are thinking of getting house plants, or adding some to your collection, check online for the many options available.
Notable, Quotable, Quotes!
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”
Epictetus
“You cannot tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations.”
Zig Ziglar
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
