Calling all left handers

[TheStakeIsNotThePower]

My boys are both lefties, age 12 and 7. One manages right handed stuff pretty well (was very late settling on a hand, is not true ambidextrous but close) but the other doesn't. Realised today I probably need to graduate from the left handed kids safety scissors!

What things really make a difference?

Scissors is the obvious one but what other things do I just take for granted as a right handed person?

I don't think it matters with pencil sharpeners, I've just tried in my mind.
I hold the sharpener in my right hand, pencil in my left. I think I turn the pencil towards me!
So that must be the right handed way, but I am a leftie.

Utility knives can be problematic, as the cutting edge is the wrong way round for us lefties. A good knife sharpener can help resolve this though.

Ring binders and lever arch files are terrible for us if you need to write in them.

Writing or drawing with pencils can pose difficult with smudging,and the edge of the hand can get covered - use an extra piece of paper on top to protect drawing and the hand.

So many things we learn to adapt to without realising, so only look for solutions if you see your children struggling with, e.g. cutting or writing.

Someone pmease explain about the pencil sharpeners because I've never found this an issue.

Neither do I. Mind you, I have a propelling pencil ...

Ooh, TV remote. Obviously must be designed for either,
But lefties do you use your right or left.
I use my right.
I'm a leftie.

I recently read about swan neck pens which apparently can be helpful to avoid the hand smudging/hiding what the leftie just wrote.

Rulers are a bugger. I got one off eBay numbered from 12 to zero inches.

A left-handed pen.

www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/acatalog/s_move_easy_rollerball.html

Kitchen knives often have sharpness only on the wrong side. Can easily buy a couple with the blade on both sides.

Don't let them use fountain pens. They'll end up with ink all over the side of their left hand

Mobile phone cases ?
Mobile phone themes (although they can be reversed).

Rulers are a bugger I don't get this either! Never had an issue all through school with any ruler.

Ironing board needs to be set up the opposite way for me, tin openers and I write with a hook so can't use gel pens or I smudge everywhere. Really struggled to teach my right handed children to tie their laces!

We are all lefties in our home, but don't have many specific items:

We have a 'y' shaped veg peeler, which you can use with any hand.

We have bog standard scissors, but then we rarely cut anything that needs precision. I did buy some left handed scissors for the children, but they don't really do much cutting.

Tin opener - we have aright handed one, but most tins come with ring pulls, so we rarely use them. You could get a top opening one, which you can use both ways.

I guess me and OH have learned to adapt as lefties. We don't see our children struggle, but that may be because we automatically choose stuff that is suitable for lefties, rather than it being a conscious decision.

Serrated knives always go at an angle, ditto the ones marketed as can be used in either hand - not in mine.

Dd is very left handed. She struggles with rulers at school, so got her an opposite one. She still finds cutlery difficult when eating, she can't cut with a knife properly and she's a teenager now! Always puts the kettle the other way round. She can't use a regular tin opener. She also used the ironing board the other way round. Her writing is a perfect should she become a doctor.

This is really interesting. Both my parents are lefties as well and none of us have ever had an issue with knives either.

Conversely it seems a big advantage as a driver. I've only ever driven in the UK but having my left hand for the gearstick seems like a big bonus to me.

Ohhh, cake forks though. Those are one I can relate to.

This won't help you OP but you have reminded me of when I was being lazy and refusing to peel veg as a teen, becuase I was really struggling with the peeler. My Dad went out and bought me a left handed peeler. Unfortunately that solved the problem!! Also, I remember when the school insisted we write with fountain pens, getting my left handed one, but I doubt they do that now.

I have left handed scissors and for those asking the point, it means you don't get a big dent in your thumb and their more comfortable to use.

I also have a ruler which would have been a godsend at school and again for those not understanding it, when your told to draw a 10cm line, a leftie draws it backwards from 10 to 0 because going from 0 to 10 hides the numbers on the ruler.

Knives I would agree with and I make sure I don't have ones with one sided serrations because as others say it cuts at a slant.

When they get older they can get left handed cheque books (if there is still a need for such a thing). The stubs on the right hand side so you can write properly.

Decent quick drying gel pens so they don't smudge when writing.

I buy irons with the cable coming out the middle of the back and not out the side or it gets in the way. My kettle is a hob one so I don't have to worry about the cable on the base facing the wrong way.

Everything else you just adapt to and the good news is you never have to stand at the front of class/office and write on a wipe board because you can't 😀

As a leftie, teaching my r.h. child to tie shoelaces was easy- we sat opposite each other and he mirrored my actions.

Guitar (if they play one)

My mum said teaching me to knit was one of the hardest things she ever had to do!

I find pencil sharpening annoying I mean its not life limiting or anything but I hold sharpener in my left and sharpen backwards. I am very strongly left handed though and quite clumsy (may be as a result(?)). I hate tube / train barriers.

Just being aware of the minor annoyances will be appreciated. So I am very left handed and do struggle with ticket stalls for the underground as I have to reach across myself. Cheque books are a pain (wanders off to investigate left handed ones) as are spiral bound books (I use them upside down). Sports kit can be handed and cheap kitchen kit often is (glares at DM’s veg peeler).

As a leftie, teaching my r.h. child to tie shoelaces was easy- we sat opposite each other and he mirrored my actions.smile

Great tip! (My leftie DS is 4)