Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Holding the Knife & Fork - stick by ettiquette or what feels right?

6 replies

balanomorey · 07/09/2008 22:56

Have just started to encourage my 3yo dd to try to use a knife when having dinner (the kiddie friendly variety, of course!). Have just been putting it on the table for her to have a play with and have been demonstrating how to use it etc.

Although she appears as though she is right handed - holds pencils in right hand etc, she does seem to want to eat left handed - ie hold knife in left hand and fork in right hand. This dosn't surprise me as I'm the same and so is my brother (my mum insists she told us the 'proper' way to eat!) and dh is left handed.

I don't have a problem with this and have always been baffled by comments from aghast friends and relatives that I eat 'the wrong way' - does it really matter, FFS!! Who decided this was the 'right' way anyhow - so what?....what do you all think?

Don't want her to be considered an oddity (as, in a very diluted way, I have thro peoples comments, tho it dosn't bother me one bit)...but I really don't care how she wants to eat and would rather, like me, she just feels comfortable with it. I'm more bothered that she observes good table manners and dosn't chomp and talk with her mouth open - that drives me mad and makes me feel quite ill when people do that.

It dosn't matter, does it??

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
AnotherFineMess · 07/09/2008 22:59

I cannot believe that anyone would even notice - are they not eating, talking and enjoying their meals if they can be so petty about what hand someone else holds their knife in???

Tell her what a clever girl she is to be eatinglike groen-up at this tender age.

AnotherFineMess · 07/09/2008 23:00

eating like a grown-up.

Shame I can't type like one

Tommy · 07/09/2008 23:00

it wouldn't bother me at all. My DSs are 6 and 4 and both find it very difficult to manage a knife and fork so I would think at 3 she is doing very well anyway!

S1ur · 07/09/2008 23:01

doesn't matter at 3.

there's time to talk about usual ways of holding cutlery later.

If she stays at the table you're already doing well. IME and IMO

seeker · 07/09/2008 23:01

It doesn't matter what hand she holds her knife in (I'm a left handed knife holder too!) It does matter (in my very old fashioned opinion) how she holds it. Like a pen being definitely wrong.

ChasingSquirrels · 07/09/2008 23:13

no, it doesn't.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page