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Your cell phone is not an accessory, so don’t wear it like one. Well, that just isn’t true anymore.

Smartphone cases send just about as many messages as the technology they hold these days.  They range from really simple to down-right trendy and they come with options that serve passions as well as your style.

If you want to Sport Along
Look into Official NBA skins, MLB skins, NFL, NHL and your favorite college team skins, made from a 3M product that “brands” you and your device.  You can show your love for just about any team around. Check out skinit.com and amazon.com.

Clean and Green
The world’s only bioplastic covers made of plants! No oil! No petrochemicals! That’s right, they are made of biodegradable and environmentally friendly materials, and Bioserie provides you with your own stylish, clean and really innovative protection for your iPhone, iPad, iTouch and iPod. This is major green science on the cutting edge. You can enjoy technology with a greener conscience. Check out bioserie.com.

Back up charging
Thin, thinner, thinnest rechargeable battery cases that are designed to virtually double the time you have to talk, surf, and send with your iPhone 3G or 3GS. These cases have rechargeable external batteries concealed inside a protective form-fitting case. They offer you the full protection of a hard-shell case while still providing twice the battery life of the iPhone by itself; and all that in a really ultra thin, low profile design.  Check out mophie.com, search “juice pack”.

If you are more in touch with the simpler options there are still a wide range of choices to make.  Gel covers that protect the phone from falls and blunders.  Leather, metal or silicon, cases that clip and hold; they come vertical or horizontal, color or plain. Your choices are extreme, just like the technology.

New Year’s resolutions are not for adults only. Help your kids make New Year’s Resolutions and encourage them to follow them all through the year.  Give him/her a couple of ideas, helping your child create New Year’s Resolutions is another means of  teaching your child the importance of setting goals. Goal setting is an important skill your child will take all the way in to adulthood. The follow through is essential to their learning patterns, they need the predictability elements.

Here are some sound resolutions your kids can easily get started on:

•  I will wash my hands after going to the bathroom and before eating.

•  I will make my bed and keep my room organized

•  I will speak with respect to my parents, teachers and adult leaders

These very basic resolutions can be adapted (expanded or reduced) to all age groups. A New Year awaits, enjoy the results of your successes.

by Amy A. Watson, MS, LCCA, LPC, Director of Clinical Services at CPCH,
and Jennifer Livings, MS, LPC-I, Intake and Case Management Counselor at CPCH

Are your kids constantly arguing and trying to be in control? Have you been searching for ways to get along with your kids? One of the keys is to provide consequences with empathy, which makes the consequences the “bad guy” and the parent the “good guy.” Who would not want to be “the good guy” with their kids?

Using genuine empathy with kids helps soak up emotions and puts the problem back on the child. The use of genuine empathy helps to maintain a positive child-parent relationship while allowing a child to learn from his or her mistakes. Good Love and Logic^® parents pick one statement they like and use it over and over again. For example, the parent might say, “I cannot imagine how bad that feels.”

Neutralizing childhood arguing begins by giving the child a big dose of empathy by saying, “I love you too much to argue.” As a parent, you continue to say this one statement and refuse to be pulled into a power struggle with a child who is drunk on control. A parent might also back that up by saying, “I will be happy to talk to you when your voice is as calm as mine.” This is an enforceable statement that encourages thinking rather than fighting.

The consequences that follow are usually natural and logical in nature and may involve a child paying back our time and energy they sucked away by arguing. For example, the child may need to spend time doing one of your chores.

Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home (CPCH) believes so strongly in the Love and Logic^® philosophy of behavior management that they train their staff with these techniques and they find they help them maintain positive relationships with the children and families they serve.

Becoming a Love and Logic Parent^® is a research-based parenting program that focuses on preserving a child’s self concept while teaching them to own and solve their own problems.

CPCH teaches Becoming a Love and Logic Parent® monthly to community members as well. Their next classes will be held on Jan. 9, 2010, concentrating on early childhood, and on Feb. 13, 2010, concentrating on children six and older. If you want to learn more about CPCH’s parenting classes or to register, 940-382-5112 x 252.

by Denton Municipal Electric

As the weather gets colder I’m using my oven more frequently. It really seems to heat up the kitchen, which makes me wonder: Should I keep my oven on more often so that my central heating system doesn’t have to work as hard?

As you mentioned, ovens can really heat up a kitchen, so it’s a good idea to use yours more in the winter than in the summer months. And while ovens and stoves are great for cooking, the best way to heat your home is with your heater.

During home energy audits we’ve seen residents using ovens and even stoves as space heaters. When asked, they tell us that it’s a way to heat up the house without turning on the heater. While we like to see customers finding innovative ways to save energy, this is one trick that is both ineffective and dangerous. Central and room heaters are designed to safely heat living spaces, and are your best option for heating your home.

Submit your question to the Energy Expert by visiting www.dmepower.com

by Reese Grey

Winter time, we button up the house by cleaning and checking, fixing and sealing… After the hustle and bustle season, it is still not too late.

Turns out that getting the house ready for winter isn’t just a cold-winter thing — it’s an eco-friendly thing, too. A tight house uses — and loses — less energy, requires fewer natural resources and produces less pollution. With just a bit of effort, you can make your winter house chores even greener. Here’s how:

• Seal: Gaps and spaces around windows and doors and in the attic can suck up to 30 percent of your home’s energy efficiency, according to the U. S. Department of Energy.

Fill them with caulk and you’re being green. Use the right caulk, and you can be even greener. Low-or no-VOC caulks have fewer noxious chemicals, but they may not be the best choice.

Look for a product with a long life expectancy, said Phil Smith with Minnesota’s Office of Energy Security. Using a caulk that has a 25-year life expectancy, such as siliconized acrylic, means you’ll use less material and discard fewer empty caulk containers over the years.

• Cover: Windows can be a source of heat loss and drafts. The standard fix – a window insulation kit.

• Filter: Before the furnace starts working hard again, treat it to a new filter. Not all filters are created equal, though.

The standard filter (think fiberglass mat in a metal holder) collects larger particles in household air that could interfere with furnace operation. But it’s designed to be replaced — and tossed in the garbage — every month.

A high-performance furnace filter (one with large paper pleats) does a better job of keeping indoor air clean and needs to be changed only once or twice a year. Plus, the paper part of many high-performance filters is recyclable.

• Insulate: Adding insulation keeps warm air in and cold air out, which saves money on heating bills and saves the planet’s resources.

If you need to add insulation, one environmental choice is cellulose, which is made from recycled materials.

“It’s taking yesterday’s newspaper and extending its life for a hundred years,” said Smith. To find out if your home needs insulation, go to www.energy.mn.gov and search for “Home Insulation.”