I have loved the bestselling #1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, so when I learned that he writes children’s books, too, I was delighted. I looked forward to having my children learn about African geography and culture while being entertained. I checked the recommended age range on Amazon – ages [...]

One of the most depressing things about growing older is that your skin naturally thins and gets terribly dried out, especially in winter. Between the very cold dry air outside, and the heated dry air inside, skin has little chance to stay moist like it does in the humid summer. So supplementing the moisture in [...]

My new best friend is the Dirt Devil Kone. I am probably one of millions who were attracted to this product because of its unique and futuristic design. I’ve always kept a hand-held vacuum in our kitchen to clean up the little messes from art projects, crumbs and spook-poop (our word for dust). My last [...]

Cooking and baking are acts of love in my house. A nice warm pot of jambalaya might as well be a great big bear hug and kiss on the cheek. The more I cook for you, the more you know I love you.
I would love to just curl up inside my new dutch [...]

As a parent of a ardent dinosaur lover who is subjected to hours and hours of questions and conversation regarding dinosaurs, I knew - KNEW - we would be purchasing these Dinosaur Eggs as soon as I saw them. We picked them up at a local flea market but I’ve seen them around other novelty [...]

For the past two weeks I have been using the Wagner Wallpaper Steamer. There is a half-bath in our home that the previous owners left slathered in a dogwood infested dark red wallpaper. It had to go.
As tempted as I am to write a pan for this little machine, it wouldn’t be honest. Truth be [...]

With four kids under the age of eight in our house, one of them a three month old, it is vital to have a safe, entertaining place for the baby to occupy his time when the other three need attention, and a bouncer seat fits the bill. A couple of weeks ago my oldest [...]

Straight Edge, Inc. is an educational supply company who’s mission is to encourage kids to read through innovative products. The Opinionated Parents have been reviewing several of their products over the past weeks and have been very impressed. We’ve had team members as well as friends who are parents, preschool teachers, early elementary teachers, [...]

I admit I was a fan of this new technology even before I tried it, because I love pictures. I struggle with how to display them all in frames in places everyone can see them. What good are they if I can’t share them? Welcome to that answer – The Kodak 8.0” Digital Picture Frame.
To [...]

I love to bake. And my love of baking has been passed on to my daughter. At 14, she’s just learning how to bake and still feels comfortable using mixes for things other than her specialty, oatmeal raisin cookies (YUMMMM). Because we’re trying to be healthier and not eat refined and processed foodstuffs, I started [...]

Whenever a recipe calls for greasing a pan, I always use cooking spray. I also use it to spray the insides of plastic storage containers before filling them with any tomato-based sauces or leftovers. One thing I have always hated, however, is the cap on cans of cooking spray. Looks like I’m not the only [...]

One thing I learned from my last review is to not write it immediately after the tasting process. Especially if you are tasting thoughtfully and thoroughly like I have done for you. If you do, you might leave out the actual name of the wine and the prices. So today I start with the [...]

My daughter had been begging for a Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses Princess Genevieve Barbie ever since seeing it in Target one day when we were supposedly shopping for a birthday present for another girl, so my son bought both the Barbie and the associated movie for her for Christmas.
The Princess Genevieve Barbie is [...]

One of the coolest new things I received for Christmas this year was a Yankee Candle Reed Diffuser. At first I was unsure exactly what to do with it, but after giving it a try it’s become a new favorite. You may have seen these aromatherapy oil bottles in various stores. I haven’t tried any [...]

The Dora Game House arrived at our home this Christmas and I’m not ashamed to say we just got around to opening it. Well, we unwrapped it at Christmas. But given the vast number of things we HAD to open - and all of the little twist ties and damned restraining devices that [...]