Hip baby boomers shun `granny' names

Houston Chronicle ^ | 3/20/04 | ELLEN WARREN

[qam1]

Hearing, "You don't look old enough to be a grandparent," is a little like being a good-looking corpse. Not the greatest compliment.

Baby boomers entering the grandparent years are launching a small semantic revolution to avoid the traditional label of senior citizen status. These youth cult boomers are demanding that their grandkids call them names with a younger sound than the traditional "grandma" and "grandpa."

"Baby boomers don't want to adhere to the blue-haired old granny stereotype. They are choosing young-sounding names for themselves because generally they don't think of themselves as grandparent age," says Norah Burch, 30, a self-described "name nerd" who has been tracking options for the new slew of first-time grandparents on her Web site, www.namenerds.com.

Burch's own mother decided that her grandchildren would call her "Moogie," the term for "mother" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"I don't have any problem, even for one second, being a grandmother. For me it's just the name," explained Laura Burch, who became a grandmother, at age 51, to Mikala, who is now 9 (followed by Jacob, 5, and Ari, 2).

Norah Burch says her mom, a potter who lives in Ithaca, N.Y., chose the unconventional name "because she associated `grandma' and `granny' et al with bingo playing and driving a giant Oldsmobile."

"My mom and her whole circle of friends, when they started having grandkids in their 50s, the thought of being called `grandma' was pretty awful to them. They weren't gray-haired old ladies sitting around in rocking chairs baking cookies."

One correspondent on namenerds.com writes, "My mom is your typical white middle-class suburban Southern Baptist Bible-thumpin' Dubya-suppportin' Texan. She has big, puffy, shellacked blond hair and wears T-shirts with three-dimensional objects hanging off them. She believes in Jesus Christ, the Republican Party, craft fairs and spiral perms. She has rebelled against Grandma because it sounds `old' and she's only 41."

She wants her grandkids to call her "Peaches." "She's even thinking of having a peach tattooed on her toe."

[qam1]

All I got to say is

grow up

[OpusatFR]

Next title from an article:

"Baby Boomers shun being dead"

[Peach]

Ditto what you said. Bunch of whiney cry babies.

[January24th]

Thats, "Grow Up, Grandma" to you, you whippersnapper!

[netmilsmom]

HA!
My MIL who will be turning 77 this year has insisted that her grandchildren call her HONEY!! Mine call her Grandma.

I like to call her a name that the Mods would not like.

[xsmommy]

do you have a peach tattooed on your toe? ; )

[anonymous_user]

That's the difference between "Boomers" and puppies.

Puppies open their eyes, grow up and stop whining.

[DameAutour]

"I don't have any problem, even for one second, being a grandmother. For me it's just the name," explained Laura Burch

So you just don't want people to know you're a grandmother. Got it.

[Peach]

LOL.

[Consort]

By now, the Boomers should be old enough to be potty trained.

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1982) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details.

[MaryFromMichigan]

She wants her grandkids to call her "Peaches."

Yeah, she's a real peach.
How vain and immature can a person be?
Sometimes I'm embarrassed by my generation.

[looney tune]

When I was expecting my first grandchild (at age 40) I claimed the name "grammy" before the other grandma could. I love the name,love being a gramdmom, and get insulted when people tell me I'm too young to be a grandmother.

[Joe Hadenuf]

She wants her grandkids to call her "Peaches." "She's even thinking of having a peach tattooed on her toe."

Hey Peaches, try squezzing yourself into grandchildrens clothes. Get um real tight, or just wear a bikini next time you go shopping at walmart. Everyone will think your real cool and young.

[Maria S]

Ha! The "Granny" I know could kick-start a John Deere tractor! Or her Harley...

[Ciexyz]

Sheesh think of all the women who might love to have grandkids and for some reason, it didn't happen. They'd love to be called "Grandma".

[uglybiker]

Norah Burch says her mom, a potter who lives in Ithaca, N.Y., chose the unconventional name "because she associated `grandma' and `granny' et al with bingo playing and driving a giant Oldsmobile."

Instead, her Mom is most likely a pot head living in Ithaca, N.Y. who listens to the Greatful Dead and drives a VW bus.

'Moogie' is fitting.

[anonymous_user]

My grandmother never gave me a choice of names.

I do suspect if I'd ever called her "Honey" the I'd have the choice of a "whupping" or "spanking."

[rogueleader]

They demand the utmost of respect from society, and then they show no respect to society. They shun society's convnetions. The only thing they respect in society is their own personal freedom--not that of their neighbors. They are babies.

They certainly aren't "Young Urban Professionals" (yuppies) anymore. They are more like: overgrown underaccomplished twits. OUTS.

[TontoKowalski]

"My mom and her whole circle of friends, when they started having grandkids in their 50s, the thought of being called `grandma' was pretty awful to them. They weren't gray-haired old ladies sitting around in rocking chairs baking cookies."

No, they're bleach-blonde botoxed old ladies sitting around playing nickle bridge and trying to save up for a fanny lift.