American Plastic Toy Homestyle Kitchen

Est. Retail Price $59.99, I paid $30 at ALDI.  My edited review from Amazon: This is my second experience with American Plastic Toys. I started out with the American Plastic Toy 37 Piece Deluxe Workbench and you can see my review of that product here. That one was easier to put together than this product, but this one is bigger and more complicated.

It does require full assembly, but that's why I said this for those who would rather invest your own manpower and time than money. I am always surprised, although I don't know why, that people don't always read the instructions. I hate to see this product get bad reviews because of the ineptitude of others, which is why I'm writing this review. Hopefully you will find this a helpful positive review. This product requires two tools to be assembled which are in big pictures on the box and instruction manual. A screwdriver (a flat head is pictured, but I found a Philips head to be more useful - either will work with the included screws) and a PAIR OF CUTTING PLIERS - NOT SCISSORS. There is no picture of scissors on the box, it is obviously a pair of cutting pliers - a tool that makes flush cuts. I bought these - Xuron 170-II Micro-Shear Flush Cutter specifically for putting this together and it is well worth the $6 investment. If you do not use flush cutters and try to snap out the pieces or use scissors, of course you are going to get rough edges, because you are using the WRONG tools! But anyway... enough about the daft.

If you use the micro shears I recommend, then I also recommend cutting the pieces out while looking at them from the underside. This allows the cuts to be perfect and unnoticeable (and of course NO rough edges of any sort). If you do get a rough edge because you decided to snap them or used some other inferior cutting tool, you can easily repair the mistake with the micro shears. And it is a breeze to cut them out with the Xuron tool - no effort. But this isn't a review for the Xuron micro shears.

I inventoried the entire contents before putting it together and found that I had one screw malformed - it was bent and stripped, but they included extra screws in the package, so that was not a problem. However, to test their customer service, I called the company and they were perfectly happy to send me out a new package that day. It does take a while to assemble, but I wanted it assembled before presenting to my child as I think all large presents should be so they can begin playing with it immediately. Everything works well and it is a good size for two year old plus.  The faucet is a little weird, it comes out, I'm guessing they intended it to be a "sprayer", but it just doesn't work for me and has frustrated my child a couple of times. The burners and accompanying utensils are on the small size, but the overall unit is a good size and I'm happy with the the size of the space behind the doors. I got this for 50% off retail and am thrilled with the value I received. Other kitchens this size that come fully assembled (or close to it) are in the $100 range.

So, if you don't like putting stuff together, I don't recommend this product. But if you want to spend a little of your own time and save a ton of money, find this product at a price you can live with and invest an extra $6 for some micro shears if you don't have a comparable product at home. You and your child will be glad you did!  I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

American Plastic Toy 37 Piece Deluxe Workbench

Est. Retail Price $59.99, but I paid $30 from ALDI.  My edited review from Amazon: This toy is exactly what I have been looking for for my going on 2 year old. It's rated for ages 3 and up and it's a good size that I know he can enjoy it for years to come.  I was able to easily carry the box upstairs to the room where I planned on assembling it. I took all the contents out and made sure I had all the parts before starting (there are lots of parts). You will need 2 tools to put it together: a screwdriver (either kind is fine) and some cutting pliers. When I first started putting it together, it seemed kind of flimsy, but I didn't pay much for this (50% off retail), so I wasn't expecting too much. After I figured how how the parts snapped together, it was smooth sailing after that. It didn't take me long to assemble it and I was able to do the whole thing by myself. I was impressed with the large screws that you use to put it together and the finished product was much sturdier and impressive than I first imagined. My cutting pliers came in a set of tools I got for free, so they weren't that great, but still did the job, however, I did need to sand down some edges for safety. I suspect if you have a real pair, little to no sanding would be needed. My son started playing with it immediately expressing much joy with the product. It's a Christmas gift, however, so he will have to wait another month before he see's it again, but I can't wait for him to play with it again! I am so satisfied with this product, I think I am going to also get the American Plastic Toy Homestyle Kitchen (and maybe find some new cutting pliers).  I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

Huggies Overnites Diapers

Est. Retail Price $19.99 for big box at Target.  Price is only $18.99 online at Target, but you can often find $2-$3 off coupons from Huggies, which then makes it cheaper to purchase in-store.  Target has the lowest retail price for these by far.

When my son started wearing size 4 diapers, I noticed we could no longer use just a larger size diaper for overnight protection.  I tried all different kinds including Pampers Extra Protection and Pampers Cruisers Premium Absorbency.  The Huggies Overnites work the best and 95% of the time, my son wakes up completely dry.  He sleeps for 11 hours at night, so that's a long time with no diaper change.  It's really amazing to see these when he wakes up.  It's like the diaper has changed to cement.  It is very hard and thick, but at least there is no wetness on his clothes.  I give these 5 out of 5 stars!