Health Tips Line

I have buttoned thousands of shirts in my life. Maybe tens of thousands. (I am a mom of five.) I am a grown adult with multiple degrees and a functioning brain, and yet the first time I grabbed my husband’s flannel to throw on before walking the dog, I stood there for a full 30 seconds, brow furrowed, hands fumbling like I’d never encountered a button before. Why did it feel so strange? Was I having a stroke? No. I was just experiencing one of the most common and most casually accepted little fashion quirks : the fact that buttons and zippers are on opposite sides depending on whether the clothing is designed for men or women. I don’t know how, in all my years of dressing myself, I’d never noticed it before. Men’s buttons and zippers go on the right side; women’s go on the left. It’s so standard that we rarely think to ask why or even notice it, and yet once you start pulling on that thread, you end up in a surprisingly interesting tangle of his...

Raise your hand if you raced home from school in the 1980s to watch Little House on the Prairie reruns. Or plopped on the living room rug before bed to watch the original series, which ran on NBC from 1974 to 1983. If you’re like me, you did both, but the real draw of the Ingalls family, for me anyway, came from the books . I still reread them every few years, and when I moved to Minnesota 25 years ago, one of the first things I did was sign up for a 10-mile race through the Big Woods near Pepin, Wisconsin. As fans know, that’s where Laura and her family lived before the sounds of too many ax swings prompted them to push off in search of a new life. Well, Half-Pint fans, the long-awaited Netflix reboot of the celebrated classic is finally here, and the trailer just dropped. I admit I felt a twinge of sadness that sweet Michael Landon is no longer with us, and Melissa Gilbert’s feisty little Laura exists only in my memory, but you guys, this reboot looks good! Read on...

If there’s one thing we love to see, it’s Prince William shouting with joy as he cheers on his football ( aka soccer ) team from the stands. And it’s clear this is his favorite kind of royal role, by far. As both the Prince of Wales and patron of the U.K.’s Football Association (FA), William gets pitch-perfect tickets to all the best games. He even occasionally gets to do a Ted Lasso–style motivational talk with the players and coaches. That’s what he did recently on a surprise visit to England’s soccer headquarters before the team departed for the World Cup . Football’s biggest competition kicks off on June 11 and runs through July 19 in North America—England’s first qualifying game is against Croatia on June 17, in Dallas—so it was the perfect time to give the crew a boost. So how did William give them a royal rev-up? Read on to find out. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more royals...

Soccer is a hot topic in the United States right now, so unless you’ve been benched on the sidelines, you know that the World Cup is drawing both die-hard fans and the soccer-curious (sometimes with reluctant friends or loved ones in tow) to matches in 11 host cities across the country. Starting on June 11, all roads lead to the ultimate showdown, the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, which will be played on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Since the games are falling right at the start of the busy summer travel season and international airfares are through the roof, it’s a great time—and a pretty convenient excuse—to tack on a quick domestic excursion from whichever city you’re catching a match. As a longtime travel writer, I’m always looking for bonus destinations wherever I go—from an interesting nearby town or cultural attraction to an unexpected adventure or activity that maximizes my time in a place. With so many cities hosting games,...