If that's your situation, you might find sanity insurance in Scholastic's I Spy School Days for Windows and Macintosh platforms. Scholastic, a children's publisher since 1920, has kid sense, which is reflected in the software, a collection of object and word-search puzzles in nine areas. There are hundreds of games, picture riddles and puzzles, and the difficulty level is high enough to cure boredom without inflicting frustration. The rhyming puzzle riddles reinforce reading and comprehension skills, and the sound is clever and engaging. Feedback accentuates the positive, and mistakes are handled gently.
Computers equipped with a microphone can even record a voice-over for the puzzle.
It's also printable. The software supports multiple users on the same machine and remembers each user's progress in solving the puzzles. Scholastic wins points for including an uninstall module, the software-publishing equivalent of good manners. Installation was smooth. The software was reviewed from a gold master copy, which is the template for the CD-ROM production process.