I'm just curious...When did you realize your kid was left-handed?
Minime is left-handed. Ummm...no wonder I couldn't get her to hold a fork correctly, lol. We were using fun techniques to help improve her princer grab and it never crossed my mind that it was a weak grab because it was not natural for her. Most of the time she would use her middle finger, instead of her pointer finger.
I'm ambidexterous, so you think it would have clicked. Nope, obviously my left and right brain were not speaking to each other on this one. Grrr...I feel so stupid!
Posted by: Chewbacca Date posted: Wed Oct 1 11:48:14 2008
Message:
I'm left-handed, my mom is, and I believe my brother is. Mom and I have nearly identical handwriting too, very round and open and girly.
When I was in first grade, they also tried to get me to write with my right hand, but I wasn't having any of it. It felt unnatural. I don't know why teachers back then had so many hang-ups over lefties. If it's in your DNA, why try and mess with it?
Posted by: Traci Date posted: Wed Oct 1 11:01:13 2008
Message: Kelli is!! We noticed it when she was probably 9 months old. We just let her lead the way, and sure enough, she is definitely a lefty. At first, we just noticed her holding her toys or reaching with her left hand. Then she started eating with her left hand and we knew. When I give the kids their plates at dinner, I always put her fork on the left, and Logan's on the right.
An interesting thing I noticed one day.....the kids were both spinning around in the living room. They were spinning in opposite directions! Try that with your kids, see if they do that too. LOL
Posted by: Wendy Date posted: Wed Oct 1 9:05:15 2008
Message: All my children are right handed, but Im a lefty. Back in the day-when I was in Kindergarten, my teacher (bad, crabby lady) would try to switch me, make me stay in for recess and told me being left handed was Unnatural and just plain wrong. When we colored or had to cut things out-no left handed scissors in her class, I was told my work was sloppy because I was a ''lefty''. When, my Mom who was a teacher and also left handed figured out this was going on, she marched into the classroom and told Mrs. Horse@ss that she was NOT to change me, my work was just as good as anyother Kindergartner and If it were a problem with her she would happily walk with her right that second to talk with the Principle. She stopped bugging and criticizing me, but I had a real complex about going to school through the 3rd grade.
I dont do caligraphy or anything, but I have pretty nice handwriting. Ive had friends and relatives and bosses have me hand address things for them. I havent drawn in yrs, but I used to be a pretty good drawer too.
Accept the uniqueness in your child and please dont try to change the hand they choose to use and that goes from left to right as well as right to left.
Posted by: Blondie Date posted: Wed Oct 1 8:56:31 2008
Message: My older son writes and eats with his left hand, but bats and throws a ball with his right. We noticed it very early on...as soon as he started holding his own utensils and drawing.
Posted by: fuzzwuzz Date posted: Wed Oct 1 1:00:23 2008
Message: Our son is left handed. Neither his dad nor I are!! What's really interesting is that each of my two sisters oldest boy is also left handed. None of my sisters or their husbands are!!! Weird, huh? I think I knew on my son when he was learning to use a spoon sitting in the high chair. I'd put the spoon in his right hand and he'd immediately change it to his left hand!!! I think I finally figured it out after a week of that! Just a little slow!?! I had a dickens of a time teaching him to tie his shoes!!!
Posted by: gabby Date posted: Wed Oct 1 0:20:37 2008
Message:
I am right handed. As Mom said, Calico is ambidextrous handed. When she was writing a paper, she would write with her right hand and then switch to her left hand. You could hardly tell the difference! She has excellent handwriting!
Granddad was left handed until his teachers decided he was going to right handed. Now you can't read his writing. His lower-case "A's" look like "Z's". His lower-case "k's" look like" h's". I can read his writing pretty good.
Now, I have a triva question for you. What president could write with both hands at the same time?
Posted by: cc Date posted: Tue Sep 30 23:52:13 2008
Message:
With my daughter, I could see pretty early that she favored her left hand. When she started to eat with utensils, I would place the fork/spoon on her right & she would switch & use it with her left hand. I didn't try to fight it, just tried to offer her boths sides, since in many ways it is easier being a righty. She also wrote backwards (forwards as well) for a long time. People were worried. Her preschool teacher told me that is common. You know where I really had trouble? Teaching her to tie her shoes. It just wasn't working & I didn't know how to do it left handed. I tried forever to figure it out. What finally worked was I just let her mirror me. Instead of working behind her, we faced each other. Same thing with sign language. I had never thought about right/left handed signing. Then I noticed that she automatically reversed things. Hard enough to learn signing myself, let alone try to pay attention to right & left hand! Babycc looks to be right handed to me. He seems stronger with that hand.
Calico would DRIVE ME CRAZY when we were home schooling! Especially when she was doing math! She would put the paper she was working on to the right of her and her scrap/figuring paper to the left. Pencil in both hands.
Write her paper out with her right hand, scribble and figure with her left hand. Right hand, left hand, right hand, left hand................
I am most certainly right handed.
I had to sit by a left handed persone in school and our elbows always bumped.
There is a couple that lives here and they are BOTH left handed. They had three kids. All three kids are right handed.
Your wee one will let you know what is most comfortable for her. Let her do what comes naturally.
Aww little Minime has been fighting an uphill battle with momma, LOL! Seriously though...I know how easy it is to always just place things in the right hand, had to stop myself recently to check that Colin really was right handed, pretty sure he is.
Always been jealous of left handed people :) Thought it looked soooo neat and loved the way the handwriting looks. BTW, can you write with both hands? Legibly? Do you gravitate towards one hand or the other?
Posted by: Jana Date posted: Tue Sep 30 21:45:12 2008
Message:
Another lefty checking in. Maybe I just notice it more but there seems to be just as many right handed people as left handed ones today. Nearly all through school I was the only one! The only thing I can think of is people used to change them to be right handers.
I used my right hand to bat and play the violin. I also use my mouse like a right handed person but other than that it is left hand all the way. I certainly can't eat or write right-handed. One thing I could never understand is why some left handers write with their hand upside down. I never did.
I don't have any children but I am left-handed. I know there are degrees of left-handedness. I write and use the fork with my left hand and use the right one for other things like drawing, painting and sewing.
I mentioned this on the Y&R Board, I recently helped put together a symposium on global health issues. Doctors and scientists came from around the world for this event, including one Nobel Prize winner. Seven to 10% of people are supposed to be left handed.
As I watched them writing notes, I was pleasantly suprised to see how many of them were left handed. In this crowd, I would say it was more like 30% - 40%.
Posted by: Schoono Date posted: Tue Sep 30 20:16:01 2008
Message: My son is a lefty. We probably realized it by the time he was a year old. It seems like most of the first born males in my family are left handed. My brother, 3 of my nephews, and my son are all leftys. My sister tried to be, but her teacher if 1st or 2nd grade forced her to be right handed.
Posted by: susienews Date posted: Tue Sep 30 19:26:35 2008
Message: My mom has a lefty for a kid. ME! And I use my middle finger instead of my index finger to hold a pen and forks/spoons. They tried to change my technique in first grade, but it never took. I may hold my pen funny, but I have excellent penmanship. Minime will be just fine.
