Left handed people

[ItchyScratch]

Do you know today is
‘International Left Handers Day’

I am not left handed but all 3 of my kids are (which I find weird!)

Do you have any tales to tell as a left hander?
Are you proud to be one or is it a nuisance?
Did you grow up in the era when it wasn’t allowed 😳

Leftie here. Only one in my family as far as I can tell tracking back to my grandparents etc. My children are both right handed.
It's not caused me too many problems really, in school writing with a fountain pen was hard as it would smudge, cheque books or any notebook binded like a chequebook are hard to write in. School cooking classes when the teacher couldn't figure out my issue with the potato peeler, it was a right handed one and I couldn't use it.

I cannot use left handed scissors though, I cut with my left hand because I'm totally left dominant but I use right handed scissors.

@Cam2020

I'm a lefty - inherited that from my dad. He had a horrible time at school and as others have mentioned, was forced to write with his left hand and felt stigmatised.

I've never had problems and easily adapted. I'm quite fortunate that I can use my right hand really well and do for most things except writing. My worst experience is being made to use the torturous left hand scissors in primary school!

The lefty line has ended with me - my daughter is a righty.

Not necessarily - my mother is a lefty, I'm a righty, one of my sons is a lefty. You might yet get left-handed grandchildren and be asked to teach them how to tie shoelaces!

I’m left handed as was my mum but not my dad, also my two sisters and brother are also left handed, though my husband and two children are not.

Obviously strong on my mums side.

As a left hander I can tell you that zips and tin openers hate me.

Me and my husband are both left handed but neither of our children are.
No issues to speak of except I sometimes struggle with scissors and I have very messy writing...... which may or may not have anything to do with being left handed

Dd is left handed, she's only 3 but does everything with left hand and has all along. Neither me or dh or lefties though!

I'm right handed, but my mother was left-handed and one of my children is.

My mother, who was born in the 1920s, was forced to write with her right hand. Her left hand was tied to her desk at school to stop her using it.

@senua

Can’t see the issue with knife and fork, I use them the normal way as wouldn’t you rather use your most dexterous hand for the fork? Agreed. I've never understood why right-handed people use a fork in their LH for putting food in their mouth but then a spoon in their RH for the same operation.

Personally that's my view too. I don't care how others eat obviously but for me my left hand is the one I'm most comfortable with so I use that for spoon fork etc.

Leftie...DGP and DS1 were/are.

Things that irritate me:

• spiral bound notebooks, I use them upside down, which gets me odd looks;
• train and tube ticket barriers where I have to reach across me;
• emergency buttons in chemical fume hoods (niche) which need you to reach across to the very top left...easy with your right hand, almost impossible with your left;
• kitchens set up with all the counter space one side of the oven;
• cheque stubs.

I smudged horribly and now write hook handed which was very painful when I was doing exams.

I quite like having learnt to use a mouse with my right as my notebook can be unimpeded on my left.

DS1’s school give all lefties extra help in Y1 because they can’t see the words they’re writing so their handwriting needs more help! So sensible.

DH and I are both righties and both our children are lefties.

Never bought anything like left handed scissors, tin openers, etc, they’ve just found their own way of getting things done.

I am a lefty and so is my daughter. In my office of 9 people, 5 of us are left handed! I love being a lefty. My mum said that when I was a child she saw them take a pencil out of my left hand and put it in my right as I started school! She told them to let me be left handed. Her Grandfather was forced to be right handed (early 1900's) and had a stutter for the rest of his life. My Aunt, cousin and niece are left handed too. We are all proud of it and (light heartedly) look down on the others!

This is very interesting. The Latin for left sinistra got mixed up with the adjective sinister.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_against_left-handed_people

My DGF, my DF & I are all lefties. I had an accident as a teen and lost much of my ability in my left hand. I taught myself to write with my right hand but still favour my left where I can.
DC is 7 months and very much favours her left hand - we'll see!

In my wider (quite big) family only one uncle is left handed. My sister and I have 2 children. Both 2nd children are left handed.
My eldest and I though are able to use both hands for most things except writing , I thought they would be left handed writer then at around 6/7 years old predominantly used her right.

I'm left handed. I can do things like knitting right handed and I'm right footed.

I can't use fountain pens because they smudge and struggle to write on whiteboards.

Yes, Rob Lowe is still hot

I'm left handed , I'm the only one in my family . But I use both hands depending on what I'm doing.
I eat with the fork in my left hand knife in right , but for dessert I hold the spoon in my left hand .
I iron left handed , but I use scissors in my right hand . I Use a knife to cut something I use my right hand. I hold a bat in my right hand . But a tennis racket in my left .
List goes on

My grandmother was forced to write right handedly. Thankfully her two left handed granddaughters had no such ill treatment.

DS uses both. He writes with his right and paints with his left. Left footed, holds a bat in his left. Didn’t know which hand to write with until he was 5. I sometimes wonder if school swayed him to his right.

My Granny was another who was forced to write right handed. My Dad is a leftie.

I’m right handed and was told off at school by the PE teacher for holding my rounders bat in my left hand. Like who the fuck cares.

Left handed here, never noticed any difficulty with anything. I hold cutlery the correct way and use a computer mouse in my right hand. Also right footed.

My son is a leftie like his dad, When I was dating him my best friend her boyfriend were all lefties.

It’s not all good. Paeophiles are more likely to be left handed. Terrifying idea.

paedophiles are more likely to be left handed -

Teaching my rh son to tie his shoelaces was a doddle, tho. We sat opposite each other and he copied my movements.

Myself and my brother are both left handed. We both have messy handwriting! The only thing I’ve struggled with is knitting, which I can only do very slowly. I had trouble working out left and right in school-but I don’t know if that was to do with being left handed or not. I iron right handed and sew left handed.
Also I hate that on two glass doors, it’s always the right one that is unlocked, when I automatically try and open the left one.

My uncle is left handed. his dad, my grandad, was right handed but all of his brothers and sisters were left handed.

Other left handed people I know are very good at maths, music and art.

This thread is very helpful for a right handed mum of a left handed child!

My DC is about to start reception. He is pretty good at recognising letters, but is reluctant to put pen to paper and can't write his name yet. Please can someone explain about tilting the paper when writing? Do you mean that you turn it clockwise so that you would write downwards? Thanks.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

MulticolourMophead, Yes! I tilt my writing pad at 90 degrees to write. It looks bizarre to non-lefties but, left-handers understand.

I peel potatoes right-handed (and am v.quick) the skill bit is manoeuvring the potato, used to iron right-handed... still can't cut slices from a loaf that look like actual slices.

Just remembered there's a server at the coffee shop I go to regularly. Pre-Covid, we would go and order at the counter, and she would actually tilt the pad more than 90 degrees so writing almost upside down.

I think it's about getting your arm and hand in line for the best comfort and least smudging. I tilt the paper quite a bit when writing left handed and have less smudging as a result.

I have also recently begun learning to play drums (OK, it's on the bucket list I created after leaving my ex over 3 years ago). I knew I could find myself playing either left or right handed, and I'm still experimenting with this. But I'm now finding myself drawn to playing right handed with my hands but left footed, my teacher is finding this amusing.