Maura Chwastyk

The holidays are a stressful time. Whether it's worrying about crazy travel plans, wondering how you're going to manage your drunk Aunt Carol at the family get-together, or not sleeping because the million-watt glow from your neighbors' Christmas decorations keeps you up all night, everyone's nerves are a bit more frayed this time of year.

When you’re brushing your teeth, it can be almost impossible to contain the toothpaste only to your brush. Somehow it ends up on the mirror, in the sink, maybe even on your hands. It seems like the only good place for that paste is in your mouth, but as it turns out, there are a lot of other places you might want your toothpaste to go. It can help out all over the house if you know how to use it.

Sure, your dad said he didn’t want anything for Fathers’ Day, but that might also have been a not-so-subtle hint that thanks to the last several holidays, he has enough ties and golf balls.

As much as your non-smoking mom claims to love the handmade ashtrays and hand-picked bouquet (from her garden, no less) that you’ve given her every Mother’s Day for the last two decades, this is the year to shake things up.

Remember the kids who always sat in the front of the classroom, the ones who reminded the teacher when she forgot to hand out homework? Those kids grew up into adults who get their oil changed every 3,000 miles, visit the dentist every six months like clockwork and file their taxes as soon as they can. Then there were the back of the class kids. They’re now the reasons dentists send those “we’ve m

“Nothing can said to be certain, except death and taxes.” As April 15 approaches, those famous words from Benjamin Franklin resonate stronger and stronger. Yet Franklin spoke them 100 years before the most difficult and vexing tax to most Americans — the income tax — even existed. So how exactly did the income tax as we know it come to be?

While the United States takes measures such as abstinence initiatives, sexual education and sometimes criticizing Bristol Palin as a scare tactic to prevent teenage pregnancy, some schools in the UK are taking a much more direct route. A report from the British National Health Service announced that many girls were given long-term contraceptives at school.