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?

LH clock

www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss000001.pl?page=search&SS=Clock&PR=-1&TB=O&ACTION=Go%21

How is that clock "left-handed"? It's just backwards. That makes no sense at all.

With folk who are fully left handed, its the right side of the brain thats strongest.

I find it easier to tell the time with it backwards. I also find it far easier to drive on the RHS of the road and go round a roundabout the ‘other way’

Door handles drive me insne as they are wrong too, as well as taps etc.

I’ll see if I can find a link that explains it better than I can. It’s a cognitive thing as far as I know

These guys did an interesting piece on handedness. It's more subtle than people think

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wpf5s

takeaway fact for me was that handedness is apparent in the womb. Which means (in theory) parents could prepare and make sure they are bringing a leftie up as a leftie.

There's also a neat (you'll need headphones) demonstration of how handedness affects perception.

From what I recall there's no explanation for handedness. It "just happens".

I'm left handed. As a child I struggled with tin openers although these days they seem to be fine so I guess the designs have changed. I also had left handed scissors which were useful.

As a musician, it hasn't effected my ability to play the piano or the violin.

As an adult I find ringbinders irritating, otherwise I barely notice.

Oh also I genuinely find the rulers with the numbers written the other way useful! I used these a lot when I still did maths but less so now !

This is interesting. My two-year-old is very left-handed and when our very kind elderly Muslim neighbour gave her a sweetie the other day, he wouldn't put it in her left hand, only her right. So I'd add a degree of cultural awareness to the list.

I'm left handed and signing for parcels at the post office on one of those electronic signature machines is always painful.

I'm left handed and signing for parcels at the post office on one of those electronic signature machines is always painful.

A lot of C&P terminals are on the RHS which is a nuisance. (It also highlights that wallets are handed too ...)

Oh this is interesting as I’m starting to teach my 3 year old to write and struggling. She seems to want to form letters the opposite way round. She also seems to pick things like pizza upsidedown. Not sure if that is her or a lefty thing??

Everyone has said it’s too early to be right or left handed but she has always had a strong left preference which became obvious from weaning. I’m convinced she’ll be a lefty and have ignored the too early camp. I should have probably been a lefty but it was forced out of me.

Harvesting vegetables my Dh says I'm dangerous

Potato peeler

Yes yes to nail scissors

Most lefties are ambidextrous, agree though that tin openers and veg peelers can be tricky, I just use a knife to peel as quicker anyway. Hopefully they'll be good drivers as its all left handed!