Yikes. You should be.

I would be as equally disturbed. Where did she get this from? How does she know "LOL"? HOW? Is she in chat rooms or message boards? OMG! I caught my dad on a message board. On an online poker site, they have forums where they can chat about anything. I saw the screen up in his office. He was talking about history or something with total strangers. It freaked me right the hell out! :-)

If she used it right, then good for her. I've got my mom (age 66) listening to William Orbit and Brian Eno lately... it's good for people to keep up a little bit, regardless of age.

If she used it wrong, you have to act now before she uses it in public and gets flamed. Nobody wants their mom flamed.

she meant "Lots O' Luck"

Seriously, though. I think LOL is widely known. Are you disturbed that she knows what it means, or that she uses it? Or, both?

Nobody wants their mom flamed.

'Motherflamer,' would be a great new curse. I'm just saying.

She was referring to my brother. [Hey look, now I get to bitch about my brother!] She emailed me that he was coming down for mother's day tomorrow, and that they hadn't seen him since Christmas. They were out of town for a few months, but they've been back for six weeks and hasn't been to see them. He lives 30 minutes away. [This is me bitching, not her.]

Her quote was: "We haven't seen him since December. He might as well live in CA. LOL!"

I appreciated the dig at him (although I know that she didn't mean it as an obvious dig), because I feel the same way about him. But still. "LOL"??

We've got to nip this in the bud. I don't want my mom to sound like a Myspace teen. She's my MOM! She's 65! She can use her words!

I've just added "nobody wants their mom flamed" to my personal list of great phrases uttered on the internet.

This reminds me of the time several years ago when my mother demanded to know -- rhetorically, of course -- "who let the dogs out?"

The shudder that involuntarily coursed down my spine took about ten years off my life, I swear.

My mom uses LOLCat speak on twitter. After the initial brain-seizing-up, you just sort of get used to the fact that you live in bizarro world.

A couple years ago, my mom told me someone looked like a "whore," which was way more bothersome than when she told me some guy was an "asshole." That was just funny. i think i'm blaming Oprah or Martha or someone on The View.

There are parallel webs. My parents hang out in a couple of forums: a travel company they have sailed with several times, a couple musicians that they like, fans of this British TV writer that they enjoy...there's a lot of stuff on the web for folks like that, too.

The thing that I found interesting in a dissonant kind of way lately was an article in our local paper about how seniors love the Wii. Apparently the senior centers in our town have Wiis, as do centers across the country. The Wii is ideal, because people can get exercise (which their caregivers prioritize) and at the same time they can have fun and socialize without having to leave their housing site. They have Wii bowling tourneys, Wii tennis, etc.

One of my closest friends, who just turned 60, loves her DDR. 60 is not old, though, so that doesn't count.

I actually think of "LOL" as kind of standard "I'm slightly too old to get this whole internet thing" speak. But this may be skewed because the first message boards I really participated in were Salon.com's Table Talk forums, which seem to skew Boomer-and-older.

One of my closest friends, who just turned 60, loves her DDR.

Well, who doesn't feel nostalgic for East Germany now and then?

Hey, at least she didn't type 'LMFAO.'

Having said that, I will add that I shudder somewhat when *anyone* uses "LOL." But that is because I am semi-old (mid 40s) and prefer the use of whole words and things like that.

At least your mom writes to you.

I only am disturbed when people say lol OUT LOUD

The Husband and I both use the computer, but for different kinds of socializing. It's essentially a solo activiy for each of us - our own worlds. We don't email much or anything. He does constant fantasy sports, and join up card games and stuff. A few years ago, we had a rare internet chat, and he typed "brb." I though he had a typo or a seizure or something, but he really knew what it meant. I experienced dissonance.

It's got nothing to do with your mother - it's you. You're getting older and the cool stuff that you used to do that your parents knew nothing about? It's mainstream now. It's all downhill from here.

I only am disturbed when people say lol OUT LOUD
It's not just you - that sends a disturbance right through the universe.

I love saying lol out loud. Too much Pure Pwnage or something, but it cracks me up.

So, do you say it as a word, or spell it out?