Lois Foutley (Laraine Newman), a nurse, is the mother of Ginger and Carl. Although she is a nurturing mother to Ginger and Carl, she is also something of a strict disciplinarian, and does not hesitate to put her foot down when she feels it is necessary; for example, in Kiss and Make-up, Ginger, Dodie, and Macie create their own make-up (or fake-up in their case) using crayons, pudding, and other household ingredients. Lois becomes furious at this blatant defiance, for she had already told Ginger that she was too young to wear makeup, and subsequently grounds Ginger without hearing her reasoning. However, with Carl, Lois seems to have adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy. Lois drives an old blue Volkswagen Beetle, which has an engine fire in the episode TGIF.
History
Before the beginning of the series, Lois was married to Jonas Foutley, who left her shortly after Carl's birth. Lois' love life remained dormant until Ms. Foutley's Boys, when she and Buzz (the plumber who fixed the Foutleys' mold problem in TGIF), develop a flirtatious relationship, later leading to Buzz and his three sons moving into the Foutley house, and becoming an annoyance by giving everything "a man's touch". Buzz continually uses the excuse "boys will be boys" to justify he and his sons' conduct, eventually leading Lois to break up with him.
A while after this, she then began seeing a coworker from the hospital, Dr. David Dave. He proposed to her in About Face and they were married in the series finale, The Wedding Frame.
It is worth noting that Lois kept Jonas' last name although they had presumably been divorced for somewhere around ten years at the series' beginning.
Personality
Lois rarely feels ashamed or embarrassed about things, she has no qualms over being seen driving her old ("ancient" as the Griplings describe it) car. During ("The Nurses' Strike") she takes up house cleaning to earn money and makes it very clear that she does not feel ashamed in the slightest, even going so far as to accept the pity of the Griplings by cleaning their mansion. Her choice of words always mirror exactly what's on her mind without any effort avoid revealing embarrassing personal or family matters. Lois has a close relationship with her two children, possibly because she is a single mother and the family of three does not appear to have any other close relatives. she is often seen giving Ginger motherly advice or cheering her up in addition to being very supportive. Despite demanding work and being relatively underprivileged, she still makes time to attend parent-teacher conferences and is able to allow Ginger to attend summer camp, a New York City, and a ski resort trip. Although she gets annoyed with Carl and has grounded him, she allows him to be himself and tolerates his strange habits and activities. She is not a particularly religious or superstitious person as noted on more than one occasion. In ("An Even Steven Holiday") she mentions that she does not feel "particularly religious" about her holiday celebrations. During the ("TGIF") Friday the 13th episode, she does not appear to to take Carl seriously on his belief that bad luck exists.
Appearance
Lois, like Ginger has red curly hair which she nearly always keeps in the same style. She is a bit short and slightly overweight. In one instance, Lois describes her appearance as "a bit wider" than she was at Ginger's age. Her most common dress consists of her white nurse's outfit as she is most commonly seen in the mornings, at work, or coming home.
Relationships
Family
Ginger Foutley
Carl Foutley
Grandma Foutley
Friends
Romance
Jonas Foutley
Dr. David Dave
Buzz
Others
Dodie Bishop
Macie Lightfoot
Courtney Gripling
Trivia
- Lois symbols what a mother is supposed to be: mature, responsible, fair, a caring and enjoy life the fullest before having a family of your own.
- Lois dosen't get along with both of her mother-in-laws.
- Many fans of the show wants Lois to be the #1 mom on Watchmojo top 10 Animated Moms.
- Many fans claimed that all mothers should be like Lois.
- Lois inspired young female fans to be a mother like her.
- Lois shares many similarities with another single parent, Raymundo Rocket from Rocket Power.
- Both are single. Lois was divorced and Ray was a widower.
- Both got remarried
- Both have the same type of two kids, an older mature daughter and a immature son.
- Both had an exciting adventures in their youth before having a family.
- Both wear a white uniform for work.
- Both raised their kids very well and giving them fair punishments and lessons.
- Both have a good friend at work.
- Both can be described by others to be scary and are not afraid to talk school authorities.