I had torn out a Dear Abby last week, in case I was at my computer and it was time to blog, and was too lazy to think of a topic. I thought the question was funny and would throw it out there.

The guy tells Abby that he and his wife are expecting their first child soon, but one thing is eating at them. They discussed what their parents should be called. The usual things came up: grandma, nanny, gramps...but his father-in-law wants to be called "pop". This guy thinks that is for a dad, not a grandfather. So, he did the sensible thing. He said...uh, how about "pop pop". Which to me, sounds like a lolipop. And, this really surprised me. That name is already being used in the family.

Abby actually gave a decent answer, saying not to sweat the small stuff, and that the child will end up with some name he/she comes up with and it will all work out.

And, it got me thinking. I recently finished a story about personalized license plates. And one grandmother I talked to had a plate I couldn't figure out. It was the made-up name her grandkid gave her, which surprisingly, turned out to be the word "grandma" in German. Talk about a weird coincidence.

I then thought about a story my mom told me once. My older brother (her first child), was being held by my grandmother. My mom, going thru some kind of mood swing, said to her, "He's my baby, not yours." And, my grandma promptly went home.

Sometimes when I want my mom to feel guilty about something, I bring that up.

To me, though, fighting with in-laws about such petty crap is bizarre. You should just be happy if you and your wife can agree on a name.

Especially if you marry some actress that wants to name your kid Apple.