Whatever Lola Wants...

We are training the only grandchild in this family to call me "Lola". I chose the name because I thought it sounded hip, was easy for a kid to pronounce and was the farthest thing from "Grandma" that I could imagine.

They Call Her Lola

Unfortunately, since choosing "Lola" as my granny-moniker, it has come to my attention that any song ever written about a "Lola" depicts her as someone with serious issues...

Initially it was a fun song by The Kinks that I would belt out as a teenager...I had no clue (and neither did my parents) that it was about a guy picking up a transvestite named "Lola" in a bar...here's the first verse...

"Lola"  

by The Kinks

I met her in a club down in old Soho
Where you drink champagne
It tastes just like Coca Cola, C-O-L-A cola

She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice
She said Lola, L-O-L-A, Lola, L-L-Lola

Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Oh my Lola, L-L-Lola

Then there was the peppy, "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow. Once, a beautiful showgirl, Lola spent her life pining for a lost love...the last verse...

"Copacabana" 

by Barry Manilow

Her name is Lola, she was a showgirl
But that was 30 years ago, when they used to have a show
Now it's a disco, but not for Lola
Still in the dress she used to wear, faded feathers in her hair
She sits there so refined, and drinks herself half-blind
She lost her youth and she lost her Tony
Now she's lost her mind.

OK. Two songs about conflicted people...I can live with that.

But then, the dam burst. When I least expected it...a hauntingly beautiful song heard in a Diet Pepsi commercial recently about yet another "Lola" - a self-absorbed seductress...

Whatever Lola Wants

by Sarah Vaughn

Whatever Lola wants
Lola gets
And little man, little Lola wants you
  Make up your mind to have no regrets
Recline yourself, resign yourself, you're through
I always get what I aim for
And your heart'n soul is what I came for.

Decision-making time. Lola. Should it stay or should it go?

The kid will be talking soon but currently has no idea of what my name is - so it buys me a little time. A friend suggested "Jo-Jo". It's closer to my own name and just as easy for a kid to pronounce...

What do you think?

Her Name Was Lola ...She was a Grandma

It’s taken several months for me to warm up to the idea that ‘technically’ I am going to be a ‘Grandma’ in March. In anticipation of the blessed event, I decided early on that the thought of being referred to a “Grandma” was just not going to work for me. When asked by my stepson and his lovely wife what I would like to be called, I chose “Lola”. My husband’s first choice was “Long Distance”, then “Frank” but eventually settled on whatever the little one wanted to call him. What a pushover.

A gift from the expectant parents

Why Lola? I’m not quite sure. To me, the name sounds youthful and sexy. So I’m over fifty. No big whup. I understand that fifty is the new thirty and who cares what I really look like … it’s all about what I think I look like. Anyway, I would much rather have a 'tween' holler “Hey, Lola” at me in the mall, rather than “Hey, Granny”.

But when it all comes down to it – I’m thinking that little Annslee (It’s a Girl!) will find the name for me that fits her just fine.