DH wants us to go Left Handed. HELP.

[PetulaClarkMementoMori]

Not sure if this is the correct thread, but here goes....

My DH and I have been together for over 30 years and, as we're getting on we've both become more aware of and conscious to avoid what I suppose is called Cognitive decline.

I enjoy crosswords and reading, so I think I'm at least using my brain daily. DH has never bothered much with what he ( Mostly jokingly ) calls 'Book-Learning'. Anyway, all of a sudden he's become an 'expert'. He told me he'd read an article ( Although I suspect he means he's seen a two- minute video on Tok Tok ) which claims using your left hand for tasks that you would normally use your right hand for can stave off cognitive decline and now he thinks this is a miracle cure-all.
And, of course, he's become obsessed, everything has to be done left-handed, and if he see's me using my right hand, he booms 'Left!'. I can be chopping vegetables or opening a jar of coffee and I'll suddenly hear 'Left!' in my earhole. I've told him it's annoying, but he's as stubborn as a goat that's been struck by lightning.
Yesterday he spent over two hours repairing the lawnmower left-handed and somehow thinks it's turned him into bloody Einstein in a cloth cap.
I've tried suggesting some 'alternatives', as I read that learning a new language is effective. I've always fancied trying Portuguese, or even Hausa or Finnish. But I suspect trying to entice him with any of this will be met with the equivalent of 'Foreign Muck', and it will be the Moussaka situation all over again.
Honestly, I could scream. I know men get fixated, especially as they get older but this is honestly too much. I'm no Carol Vorderman so can someone explain whether there's any truth in his claims of Neural-plasticity in the brain?
I really need to get some answers because if I keep hearing 'Left!' I may well go hard right! In fact, the other day whilst driving he started rabbitting Left! Left! and it was only when I realised that he was pointing to the entrance to the Garden Centre, that I heeded what he was saying.
So, is there any truth to it? And is anyone else's aging husband going as mad as an Aardwark at an all you can eat Ant-Buffet?
I better go, I can hear him rumaging in the airing cupboard and if he see's me typing with two hands it'll be all she wrote. Literally!

OP, you mentioned your interest in learning a new language and that you had thought of Portuguese, Hausa and Finnish.

I don't think that they would be the best ones for a beginner; I would suggest Spanish.

CityLit offers some of its language classes online.

You could try Spanish for Beginners.

https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/spanish-beginners-module-1/lbs01-2526#description

I'm lol all over again. 😂
sexual parkour

She was joking, picking hard/obscure languages for comic effect!

Silent laughing shakes. 😂😂😂😂😂
Gawd the posts are brilliant today! 👏

Yes. My most pressing concern here is the Moussaka situation - you write ‘again’. That is pretty ominous.

One of the great Michael Moseleys 'things' ...tbh honest I think he also said things like stand on one leg whilst brushing your teeth with the hand you don't normally use...just saying ! 😊

OP, your husband should cut out the shouting. He's using his right hand when you're not looking.

I'm right handed. Over the last eighteen months or so I've lost the use of my right hand.
I've no choice but to use my non dominant hand.
It's bloody impossible to learn it all and I've had physiotherapy!
I'll never get the writing to any standard.
I can't manage yet with just the left hand. So how the hell is your husband doing it. Ask him for his advice on my behalf.

I can absolutely guarantee the OP that her husband is not using his left hand for everything. Neither should the OP be forced.

I was listening to a podcast about just this the other day (no such thing as a fish?). Apparently there was a big fad for this in the 1960s or something - it was thought it could literally double your brain capacity. This has since been entirely discredited as a theory.

If it brings some interest to his life then great. But there's absolutely no need for him to drag you into it if you don't fancy it. Keeping your brain active doing things you enjoy is of course far more sensible (I don't think you needed a stranger on the internet to tell you that?!)

Just respond with a left handed 🖕

There are actually lots of benefits to this, however he can't push it on you. If he wants to do it, fine. If you don't, then that's up to you.

I'm naturally left handed. Do I need to start using my right hand??

Google tells me:

'Using your non-dominant hand for everyday tasks promotes neuroplasticity by forcing the brain out of routine and building new neural connections. However, there is no strong scientific evidence that it specifically prevents dementia or broadly staves off cognitive decline.'

ie - he probably saw it on social media and is just wasting his time.

taking the best care of my teeth that I can is way more important than any benefit I'd get by trying to brush them left handed.
Given that this was a bloke who deliberately gave himself tapeworms, I'd be a bit cagey about taking on all his ideas.

Please tell us about the moussaka situation, op!
And FWIW you are absolutely right, that's a bit unhinged.
Left!
I'm a leftie and I think product designers should all have to do this. But you shouldn't.
Portuguese will be much better .

"Foreign muck" He sounds like a insufferable tosser.

Am I losing the plot?! Is this actually meant to be old school mumsnet satire? Like the saucepan husband thread 😁. Surely people can't be that gullible.

Yep. 1990s. It was called Neurobics and subsequently proved to be utter twaddle !!

Dare I ask - what was the moussaka situation?

I need to know about the Moussaka Situation @PetulaClarkMementoMori

As most sensible people are saying though, him demanding you do anything and rudely, startling you, irritating you... isn't ok.

Yes, learning to do a new physical thing; a familiar physical thing with the other hand; learn a new language; play games like chess ... and a whole raft of other options.. are better for your brain than... doing nothing.

No you do not have to do everything with your non-dominant hand from now on.

I'm so glad I'm not the only person in desperate need of a debrief on the moussaka.

Tell him that learning a language has the same effect and everything he speaks, yell 'En français, s'il vous plaît!'

I’m left handed and I think that left handers of my age 60+ and older had to adapt in order to live in a right handed world. Cheque books used to annoy me! Nowadays there are adaptations but even so, I couldn’t chop anything with my right hand or hold a racquet or spoon with my right hand without causing injury or making a mess.

Show him how a “Left Upper Cut” is done. That’ll cure him.

Yes, agree, but as with most things in life ...best to have all the info you can...then make your own mind up