Parenting little lefties

Left handers don’t just write differently, we also think differently.

Only about one in ten people in the world is left-handed — but the percentage is much higher just in my immediate family.

My father, brother, wife, kids and I are all lefties, and proudly so.

Over the years, I have found that there are many pros to being a southpaw, despite us being in the minority and the prevailing assumption that lefties are at a disadvantage.

First and foremost, it’s a fun way to bond. I always notice when someone else is left-handed and, if given the opportunity, I point it out.

Waiters, bank tellers, clients, and colleagues who share this trait with me perk up and smile when I say, “I’m a leftie too!” It’s an easy way to break the ice and create an instant connection.

Aside from bonding with those around me, lefties are in good company. Many famous people such as Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg are lefties.

There are even quite a few leftie cartoon characters such as Bart Simpson and Ned Flanders — which makes sense given that The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, is left-handed. Anna from Frozen and Kermit the Frog are also fellow southpaws!

While I prefer being a leftie in a rightie world, some things take getting used to. Now that I’m parenting three lefties myself, I pay more attention to the strategies I’ve implemented that make my life easier. Here are a few tips I give my little lefties.

My 10-year-old boy Hayek, for example, uses his left hand to write and grab items, but that doesn’t mean he wants to use his left side for everything — preferences can vary from person to person.

I make sure to ask him how comfortable he is during specific activities. Some lefties kick a ball or play baseball righties do. (Or both!) The same can be applied to righties who occasionally use their left, while other people learn to be ambidextrous.

Rightie instructors may get frustrated teaching a leftie. I distinctly remember my Physical Education (PE) teacher grumbling to himself when he tried to teach me how to hold a bat.

One option to make the situation easier is to have the student face the teacher instead of standing behind them, and mirror their movements. If that doesn’t solve the problem, YouTube is a great resource for left-sided tutorials and can be used as a supplement to in-person instruction.

I also make sure that equipment we use, including sporting gear, art supplies, and even musical instruments are conducive to the left side — baseball gloves, scissors, and even guitars can all be purchased specially made for lefties.

When I was younger, it never occurred to me that certain kitchen or office tools weren’t made for left-handed people. I just adjusted to using them.

But being proactive about finding items that are more intuitive for lefties takes away unnecessary stress.

I pay attention when I purchase pitchers (I like the ones with the spout in the middle instead of on the side), cake knives (the ones where the serrated edge is on both sides are great), and can openers (I’ve adjusted to most that are on the market, but may try one of these someday), so they are leftie-compliant.

When we remember, Hayek and I sit at the far-left end of the table, so we don’t bump elbows with the rest of our family members during meals.

I flip three-ring binders over and make the last page the first page, so the metal doesn’t hurt my hand. I try to find pens that don’t smudge since we write from left to right.

When I used a Microsoft computer at my corporate job, I switched the buttons on my mouse — a strategy I never considered until another leftie made the recommendation. Apple is adaptable to both lefties and righties since the trackpad is in the middle of the keyboard.

I also requested a left-handed keyboard when a significant part of my job was working with numbers since the number pad was on the left side. These are all lessons I will teach my kids as they get older.

At the end of the day, being self-aware is key. Practice having your child speak up and ask for the resources they need to feel most comfortable and be the most successful.

And make sure to celebrate their uniqueness! A magnet on my fridge puts it perfectly, “There are a few special people in this world — the rest are right-handed.”

Oh, and here’s a little throwback—the first and last poem I wrote for a Literature Humanities (LitHum) project, which actually got into the campus newspaper on International Lefthanders Day back on Aug 13, 2010. It’s no masterpiece, but it sure sums up how I felt using my left hand for everything, from writing to eating—even when it went against what most people thought was “normal” back then.

Leave My Left Hand Alone, Right !

When I started school
A prep still unbranded
They looked at me strangely
And observed
He’s left handed !
Well I was just five
And my left hand felt right
I didn’t consider its use was a blight
You’ll have to change hands
Learn to write like the rest
The news didn’t please me
I found it a pest
They handed me crayons
Scissors and chalk
All in my right hand
But this didn’t work
I scribbled and chopped
I felt quite bereft
I desperately needed the use of my left
I didn’t conform
I continued to fight
The use of my left
Was a personal right
So they left me to write
With the hand of my choosing
And to this very day It’s the left I’m still using.

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.