Susie Skog knows Lake Norman Real Estate Inside Out

Owning a pet can teach children important values that can help them throughout life.

Giving and receiving unconditional love can teach acceptance and build self-confidence and trust.

Recognizing and addressing a pet’s needs can build responsibility and compassion.

Teaching a pet a new skill can help kids with patience and perseverance.

Understanding how animals communicate can help children understand human nonverbal communication.

Growing up with pets can teach kids not to fear unfamiliar experiences.

The death of a pet can help children learn to grieve in healthy ways.

Before you get a pet, consider the amount of time and money required to care for it and your family’s lifestyle.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

If you’re the proud owner of a hardwood floor, you may be engaged in a constant cleaning battle. Hardwood looks best when it’s buff and gleaming, but with a busy schedule, it can be hard to keep the floors sparkling at all times. Below are a handful of tips for quickly cleaning your wood floors.

Clear the space. This may seem obvious, but it’s an often-overlooked step in the cleaning process. Clear your furniture (picking it up, not dragging it) so you can access the full plane of your floor.

Vacuum. Use a vacuum to pick up surface dirt and pet hair that will interfere with your mopping. If your vacuum has a crevice accessory, put it on and get in the tough to reach spots, like corners and baseboards.

Mop. Going with the grain, mop your floor from wall to wall, including your baseboards. If your floor is sealed with polyurethane, you can use simple dish soap for a little extra cleaning oomph.

Buff. Using a clean cloth or dry mop to buff the floor until it sparkles. Once fully dry, replace the furniture and enjoy.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

For many people, adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle is high on the list of worthwhile efforts. For others, its all about stashing cash. Consumer editors at Good Housekeeping Magazine suggest a few simple and relatively inexpensive tips that can aid in both pursuits:

Lighten up on laundry. Tests show that switching from a top-load to a front-loading washer can cut your water use by half for a full load. And washing clothes in cold water versus hot can save you up to 25 cents per load. Conserve water and energy and save up to $40 per year by washing three cold-water loads a week.

Program your thermostat. Pre-setting a programmable thermostat to start heating or cooling your home an hour or two before you get home from work (instead of letting heat or air run in an empty house all day) can save as much as $150 annually. Alternatively, lowering the heat temp by two degrees can save up to $40 per year " and setting the AC at 78 degrees instead of 73, can cut your bill by 40 percent.

Upgrade your toilets. Upgrade two toilets made before 1992 to low-flow ones, and you can cut water costs by nearly $200 a year in a two-bathroom, four-person home. Replacement not in the budget? Try a Brondell Perfect Flush ($79), which converts your toilet into a dual-flush, saving about half the water and $100 per year per toilet.

Use refillable containers. If you use spray bottles of window cleaner and/or other household products, buy the largest containers or concentrates and refill smaller bottles. Save money on cost per ounce and cut the number of plastic containers cluttering up the landfills.

Read labels. Whether to save money, save your health or save the planet, read and understand product labels:

• USDA Organic: Food is produced without antibiotics, genetic engineering or most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
• Rainforest Alliance Certified: Companies that practice soil and water conservation and reduce the use of pesticides. (Seen on coffee, chocolate and bananas.)
• Green Seal: Products are evaluated for environmental impact and must meet recycling/bleaching standards. (Seen on napkins, paper, towels and toilet paper.)

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Even if you vacuum frequently and clean up spills immediately, your carpets may be filled with ground-in dirt, dust, bacteria, germs and allergens.

Those toxins can lead to poor indoor air quality that can affect your family’s health.

Hot water extraction, or steam cleaning, can remove toxins trapped in carpet fibers and make carpets last longer.

You should clean your carpets at least every 12 -18 months, but more often if you have kids or pets, your carpets get a lot of foot traffic or they are particularly dirty.

You can buy or rent a machine and clean your carpets yourself, but professional machines use more heat and suction.

Published with permission from RISMedia.