Every time I write either “affect” or “effect,” I have to pause for a second to double-check myself. Their meanings are related, their spellings are similar; even their pronunciation is nearly the same. But one of them causes something and the other is the result. And knowing the difference is a good thing.

Occasionally, we all find ourselves in a position in which we need to pack a bunch of stuff—including clothes—into a backpack. It might be as simple as heading to a friend’s house for the weekend. Or packing your kid up for a weekend at grandma’s. Or—maybe your life is a little more exciting—you’re catching an early…

Getting ghosted by a friend or a romantic partner is one painful kind of rejection. (Was it something you did? Something you said? They used to be so into you! Why are they no longer into you?) But getting professionally ghosted by a company you’ve interviewed with can feel like its own special dagger to the…

When my son turned one year old, I sat down to write him a letter. I wanted to talk to him, to tell him how monumentally he had grown over the past year. I wanted to remember how his newborn legs were so skinny, I could wrap my thumb and pinky finger around them with room to spare. I wanted to bottle up the way he…

The next time you attend a wedding, I want you to do something. I want you to get all dressed up, fix that hair just right, locate the seat with the best view and then watch the ceremony with love in your heart and your phone in your damn pocket.

You’re waiting for your flight to board. Maybe you’re on a layover or your flight has been delayed or you’re just trying to kill some time, so you wander into one of those airport bookstores that look and feel the same no matter what city you’re in. And the table of recently published, hardback books is calling your…

Little kids are notorious for asking incessant questions, the most common variety being the endless, “Why?” And we try to answer them—we always swore we’d be the parent who would encourage their curiosity, after all—but sometime between the fifth and tenth “why?” you’re either over it or you’re out of answers.

Several types of over-the-counter eye drops, including those packaged specifically under the Walmart, Walgreens and CVS brands have been recalled due to concerns that they may not be sterile.

Most of us know the basics about how to make our homes unattractive to burglars—get a security system installed (or at least put one of those stickers in your window), keep a light on with a timer when you’re traveling, get a yappy dog, etc. But what do you do if you think someone might have ignored all your…

Traveling with animals can be tricky and stressful, especially if they are like every pet I have ever owned and have a naturally skittish temperament. But there are some steps you can take to make air travel less stressful for them—and you.

Doing your business 35,000 feet up in the air is not just a cramped, uncomfortable experience. The whole process—when can I go and how do I physically reach my destination—is fraught with rules, regulations and etiquette principles to consider.

As soon as kids begin to talk—or even non-verbally indicate a preference—we start to give them choices. Do you want to wear the red shirt or the yellow shirt?Would you like a peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwich for lunch? Should we read Goodnight Moon or The Very Hungry Caterpillar? We’re trying to give them a…

My husband took his car into our mechanic this morning to get enough work done to require a loaner car for the day and an estimate well over $1,000. “I’ll tell them not to change the cabin air filter,” he reassured me. “I can do that one myself.” Now if only he could install and align his own tires, change a…

Like many people, Barbara Greenberg wasn’t looking to unlock any deep, dark family secrets when she spit into a tube a few years ago and sent her DNA off to be analyzed. “I was just curious to see if I would find anything a bit interesting,” Greenberg says.

We humans like our grudges. We tell our grudge stories over and over, like battle wounds that will never fully heal: The promotion we were wrongly denied, the bill we paid that wasn’t ours, the invitation we never received.

The Gulf Coast is bracing itself for what is likely to be Tropical Storm Barry tomorrow, which may turn into a hurricane by Saturday. Louisiana has already declared a state of emergency and this is the sort of weather you don’t want to mess around with. Now is the time to plan how, when and to where you might…

If your dishcloth has been hanging around and wiping up messes for more than a day or two, it’s at risk for contamination from salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus and other bacterias and mold. Chris Smith, a consultant virologist at the University of Cambridge and the managing editor of the Naked Scientist, tells The…

You’ve already explained yourself a dozen times—in perfectly clear language, no less—and still they’re not hearing you. Your partner, your best friend, your 10-year-old kid, whoever. You know you’re right; they just need to listen a little better, don’t they? As they go around and around in circles, still missing what…

The U.S. Women’s Soccer team has broken records and captured our hearts in its run up to Sunday’s World Cup Finals victory; in return, we owe them a good old fashioned ticker tape parade.

Babies might be small, but planning for them can seem like a mighty feat. We do plenty to get ready for their arrival—we take the hospital tours and birthing classes, decorate the nursery and assemble the crib, throw the baby shower and hire the family photographer. But sometimes we do so much to plan for the arrival…