Notepad Corner

Family bonding activities are a great way to develop and keep a strong association and relationship with your children. It allows developing rapport within family members thus strengthening ties and intimacy among them. But in this time when parents seem to become too absorbed with too much office work, having quality time with their kids sometimes is a hard thing to achieve. What with all the hectic schedules to follow and a lot of deadlines to meet. However, we need to bear in mind that spending time with children while they are young is critical in their development as youth. It is important that parents watch and guide their children as they grow up because it will make them responsible adolescents later. In my opinion, no matter how busy we are, we should find time to spend quality time with our children. We should not be troubled thinking on how to spend quality time with our family for even simple activities can create a strong tie and connection among family members.

For many home owners, making the necessary changes to become eco-friendly can seem like a daunting position. On the contrary, it's actually surprising how simple sustainable living can be, from changing the style of light bulb to starting a compost heap in the back garden. Sustainability and energy-efficiency should also be taken into account when extending or renovating the home, by choosing the materials and products you use, it's possible to see a massive reduction in energy bills and your home's carbon footprint. For the home owners themselves it's these small steps that can go a large way towards building a clearer conscience. Here are some top tips on how to make your home greener, with a variety of short and long term savings: Insulation and Geothermal heating One of the most cost-effective ecological improvements you can make is to insulate your home. On average an annual saving of £135 per year is expected by installing effective floor, wall and roof i

Ants are found just about everywhere on earth, and one of the most dangerous types is fire ants. In many places a careless encounter can be fatal, and homeowners should never attempt to control them. The red fire ant is a small brown pest that can be difficult to distinguish from their other cousins, that is, unless you are stung. Fire ants are named because of their painful sting. Some use their stingers in defense of the nest and others use them to subdue their prey. Is there a Benefit to Ants? Fire ants are very effective predators; in fact, when eliminated from farms, farmers usually notice an increase in other crop pests. The nuisance is high but when weighted against other issues, many people find them a benefit. Fire ants prey on cockroaches, larvae of flies and other pests. Today, German law even protects red ants so that they can defend the nation's forests. One of the ants' greatest benefits to us is their fondness for mosquito eggs; some species of

photo credits: freedigitalphotos.net How do we really measure the efficiency of being productive? Do we need to tire and exhaust ourselves by doing more – quantity? Or doing less yet quality work that produce more worthwhile results in our life? Being a work at home mom is not easy as most people think. Though I work in pajamas, it does not mean that I am luckier than those who work 8 hours straight in corporate jobs. On the contrary, work at home moms have more longer working hours and variety of things to attend to such as doing the laundry, ironing the clothes, preparing the family meals, cleaning the house, taking care of the kids and more, at the same time beating the deadline on doing online tasks to augment   the family finances   for a decent living.