Serving Our Community

Lakeville

3513 Thomas Dr., Suite

Kids And Sleep

School-aged children are busier than ever before, and some may be sacrificing sleep to accommodate their lifestyles. The National Sleep Foundation says school-aged children need between nine and 11 hours of sleep each night to function at a healthy level. Sleep deprivation can be linked to a host of health ailments, including issues affecting the development of the brain. Growing evidence suggests that lack of sleep can cause disturbances in metabolic rates that could affect the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. A recent study from Johns Hopkins University found that, for each additional hour of sleep a child gets, the risk of that child becoming overweight or obese decreases by 9 percent. Children who slept the least, according to the research, had a 92 percent higher risk of being overweight or obese compared to children with longer sleep duration. The NSF adds that poor or inadequate sleep can lead to mood swings, behavioral problems and cognitive problems that impact kids’ ability to learn in school. To promote good sleep habits in children, parents and other caregivers can establish consistent sleep/ wake routines; ensure children avoid excess caffeine, particularly late in the day; create a cool, dark sleep environment; keep televisions and other media devices out of bedrooms; and help children work through stressors that may impact sleep.

Planning Ahead Is Vital To A Successful Renovation

Determine your motivation for renovating: Renovation projects often involve balancing needs and wants, and determining if a project is a necessity or a luxury can set the timeline and course of the project. Is the roof leaking? If so, immediate action is necessary. Could the kitchen be a bit more functional? If the kitchen is still manageable, a homeowner may be able to wait a little bit to get better prices on appliances or contracting services.

Separating needs from wants helps homeowners map out a viable timeline that maximizes productivity and affordability.

the environment in various ways. According to GreenBusinessWatch. org, building and renovating with reclaimed timber helps to preserve forests by greatly reducing the need to cut down trees. In addition, when using reclaimed timber to build or renovate a home, contractors and homeowners tend to use locally sourced reclaimed wood, reducing the need to transport wood from afar to complete the projects. That reduced reliance on transportation reduces fuel consumption and air pollution. Processing reclaimed timber is often less taxing on the environment than processing virgin wood. However, reclaimed timber may provide more than just environmental benefits. Virgin timber typically comes from commercially grown trees that are not always afforded enough time to reach full maturity. Timber that is reclaimed from old buildings and vessels may very well have reached full maturity before it was cut down to use as building material. Reclaimed timber that grew to full maturity is likely stronger than virgin wood taken from commercially grown trees that were not given enough time to mature. Reclaimed timber also may prove more durable than virgin wood because the former has already dried out after years of contracting and expanding, making it less likely to warp and split than virgin wood that has yet to endure such exposure.

Smart watering conserves water and saves money

Start early. Homeowners may feel that the hottest times of the day are when lawns and gardens will be most in need of water, so that’s the best time to set sprinklers or grab the hose and get to work. But in many areas, watering between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when summer temperatures tend to peak, can be both wasteful and ineffective. That’s because watering between those hours will cause much of the water to quickly evaporate, robbing lawns and gardens of the water they need to withstand the heat. Homeowners who water when water is most likely to evaporate may feel they need to water more, and that only wastes water. It’s best to consult a local landscaping professional in your area to determine the best time to water each day, but in many regions the best time to water is between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., when temperatures are generally lower, the sun is not at its peak and winds are not as strong.

Failure to budget: A budget is the most effective way for individuals to gain control of their spending.That lesson seems to resonate more with young people than older men and women. A 2019 poll from Debt.com found that 74 percent of consumers between the ages of 23 and 38 use a budget to govern their spending, while only 67 percent of consumers between the ages of 39 and 54 use a budget. A failure to budget can increase the risk of spending impulsively and make it hard for consumers to see what’s coming in and what’s going out.That’s a recipe for accumulating debt.

DatafromtheUnitedStatesDepartment of Justice indicates that partner violence accounted for 20 percent of all violent crime in the U.S. in 2018. The World Health Organization defines intimate partner violence as behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical,sexual or psychological harm. Such violence can include acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and controlling behaviors. Violence perpetrated by both current and former spouses and partners falls under the umbrella of intimate partner violence. Domestic violence is so prevalent that the National Network to End Domestic Violence reports that it fields more than 19,000 calls on a typical day. Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence or suspects a loved one or acquaintance is being abused is urged to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-7873224 (TTY) right away.

We’ve Got Dumpsters!

15, 20, 30 and 40 yard Containers Available When and Where You

Protect Your Mobile Devices - and Your Identity (Family Features) Mobile devices have become an indispensable tool for many people - and the thought of losing one of those devices, or having it stolen, is disconcerting, to say the least. But it happens every day. It’s estimated that lost or stolen phones alone could cost U.S. users $30 billion in 2012.

When a phone or tablet goes missing, so does a lot of personal information. And that can lead to more than just some inconvenience - it can lead to a stolen identity.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. While identity thieves still resort to old-fashioned methods of information gathering, like going through trash and stealing wallets and purses, they can also get the personal information you store on your mobile device.