Girl-child is naturally left-handed. They kept telling us that you can’t determine which hand the baby will use until they are older and start writing. We knew. She always liked things in her left hand, and it was just so obvious she was going to be like her daddy and left-handed.
I worried when she started school and had to learn how to write and use scissors, but she’s had some great teachers who were also left-handed and helped her out. We didn’t realize for a long time how much work she was putting into learning things like dance, clarinet, and piano, where she was taking what she was taught and flipping it around in her head.
I tried to teach her to crochet. It was a failure, so I tried to learn how to left-hand crochet. That gave me a new respect for what she has to do for everything. Now that girl-child has reached baby-adult status, there are a few things that she wants to share.
1 – Wanting to sit in a particular spot has much more to do with elbow room than liking who I’m sitting beside.
Corollary – If we go out to dinner and you sit on the left, you forfeit your right to complain
Mom’s thoughts: I’ve knocked enough elbows with her to respect this rule. Eating out can be unpleasant if you have to fight for space, especially with a cranky kid or a moody teenager. A few minutes of playing shuffle-the-seats is worth it.
2 – Unless that bag is Gucci, it can go on the floor like everyone else’s. Free up a limited left-handed desk for someone who needs it.
Mom’s thoughts: She’s a bit of a prima-donna, but I also know that left-handed desks are in limited supply in classrooms. Essential thinking of consequences of actions beyond oneself generally occurs later in life, so the thoughtlessness is probably not intentional.
3 – Don’t ask me to write on the whiteboard. It won’t end well for either of us.
Mom’s thoughts: I’ve seen it. It isn’t pretty. But I know she can do it because she has a whiteboard in her room with notes.
4 – It’s not a bruise, I just wrote with a pen, and it smeared.
Mom’s thoughts: I’ve asked this question many times. And “are you bleeding?” when she used red ink. Cheer posters were particularly challenging.
5 – I’m particular about where I park because it is easier to park on the left-hand side of the aisle.
Corollary – This might be a “me” thing, and I was never taught how to park on the right side of the parking lot.
Mom’s thoughts: Yes, it is because yes, she was.
Who else out there is trying to raise a left-handed child in a right-handed world? I never knew the challenges involved. How does your child adjust things to make it work for them?
