Posts by Badbadivy

Household Oddities And Axioms: WTH?

Ivy says: I’ve been thinking about all the household axioms: you know, cliches or “old wives tales”. I find some of them highly suspect and/or amusing. Let’s take a look: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Well, yeah, some of them could die or something. But if you don’t count at all, how do…

Grabbing Your Moment Of Zen Where You Can

Ivy says: In case you haven’t noticed, life is stressful. Sometimes you have to grab your moments of zen any way you can get them. I try to catch little moments of zen, like the peace of a quiet bathroom with nobody else in it, or driving down the road and catching my favorite song,…

Making Cleaning With Kids More Fun: Cleaning Ninjas

Ivy says: My kids were joking recently that we had cleaning ninjas in our house. I had cleaned the kitchen while they were at school and they thought some cleaning ninjas had miraculously come by to clean it up. From there was born a fun way to clean house with the kids: the cleaning ninja…

Making Things Last Longer

Ivy says: Okay, Home Eccers, let’s tap into your sources of wisdom. I want to know how you make things last longer. I’ll give a couple of examples: laundry detergent caps always have three lines to tell you how much to put in, and the bottom one is usually sufficient, but hard to see. So…

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!!!!!!!!

Ivy says: Yes, my post title does require that many exclamation points. I was away this weekend and it appears my husband and kids decided to trash the house beyond the limits of what I can stand. Awesome. Luckily, this year my youngest son goes to kindergarten so I’ll now have the house to myself…

Household Management: Determining Your Management Style

Ivy says: As I’ve said here about 50 million times, Mr. Ivy is a restaurant manager. One of the common themes in our conversations is how other people manage the restaurant and how it meshes (or doesn’t mesh) with his own management style. Within your own household, you and your significant other will have different…

Using Saturday To Get #backontrack

Ivy says: I don’t know about your house, but mine needs some serious cleaning. As the summer draws to a close and my kids get ready to go back to school next week, I look around and see how much cleaning needs to be done. When all three kids are home, trying to get the…

Dealing With Deodorant Stains

Dear Home Ec 101, I have a question about deodorant stains on nice clothing! I have a fuchsia pink bridesmaids dress and there is a thin line of white along the armpit seam. I need to get rid of that stain. I’m sure I could take it to a dry cleaners but do you have any…

How To Tell Your Kids Something Is Just Too Expensive

Dear Home Ec 101, How do you tell your kids there’s just not enough money for all the things they want? Especially now with school clothing shopping, my kids want $100 pairs of shoes and it’s just not in the budget. Help! Signed, Broke in Birmingham Ivy says: It’s not just the recession kids, back-to-school…

Some Things We Save, Some Things We Throw Away

Ivy says: Our grandmothers knew a thing or two about recycling. Back then it wasn’t about saving the planet, it was about saving a dime or two. That’s one of the nicest things about the “green” trend, not only is it good for our planet, but it’s also good for our wallets. Back to our…

Saturday Sobfest: Curing The Hangover

Ivy says: Facebook and Twitter tells me that some of my pals who went to BlogHer are now suffering from hangovers. I’ve not been to BlogHer, but I’ve sure been the recipient of more than a few hangovers. Angelic Ivy says “Everything in moderation, kids. Don’t drink until you’re drunk.” But we all know I’m…

Mom’s Rules And How I Broke Them (And Why She Was Right!)

Ivy says: I’m sure it doesn’t surprise anyone to learn that when I was a kid, I’d break the rules as much as possible. Finally, to keep peace in the house, I stopped breaking so many rules, but I vowed that when I had my own house, I’d not have any of those same rules.…

Ask The Audience: What’s The Best Thing About Your City?

Ivy says: I have a friend in town and I’ve been showing him all the best things about Nashville. As most people are when I show them Nashville, he’s in love with the city. Nashville has a certain vibe that I’ve not seen anywhere else I’ve ever been. The music venues suit nearly every musical…

Kraft And Sam’s Club Two Week Meal Planner Giveaway Winner!

Ivy says: Thanks again to the Kraft and Sam’s Club two week meal planner people for the great giveaway! To recap, we’re giving away one $40 Sam’s Club gift card and one $40 membership to Sam’s. And, the winner is: And the winner is lucky number 52, which is Pam! We’ll be in touch with…