Lefties and moms of lefties.... a question for you.

[Denine]

I am a lefty.

I would say just to let him do things naturally. If he wants to write with both hands, let him. He will eventually decide on a preferance.

I do bat and golf right handed. I am guessing that is how I was taught because the rest of my family was right handed. I use right handed scissors too. Everything else, I do left handed.

 

[clovergirl5]

I'm a lefty, my husband is lefty and is a triplet who were all lefties and his two older brothers were all lefties. My two kids are lefty. Is there any other way??

Thats alot of lefties in one family!

 

[Allison]

You shouldn't do anything. Why do you think there is something you should do?

 

[Tasha+Scott]

I am a lefty. (I actually have a lot of lefties in my family but I digress.) I say let your son figure this out on his own. It was known that I was a lefty from a very early age. However, I have never been able to use left handed scissors, batting left-handed is the most unnatural feeling in the world for me, and I have always been able to use the computer mouse on either my left or right side (but I prefer my right).

I had a few teachers that knew I was left handed and tried to get me to use the left handed scissors. They spent all of kindergarten trying to figure out what was wrong with me and why I just could not use scissors. Finally someone suggested letting me try "regular" scissors. Yep, not a problem since that day.

Your son may be a lefty with right handed tendencies like I have and there really isn't much you should do or need to do. He is only 4 and he will figure it out in time.

My dd4 is a righty all the way. My ds1 is still too young to really be sure about but for a while there he did nearly everything with his left hand and I admit I was a bit excited. However, the past couple months I've noticed he uses both hands so the jury is still out on him.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I understand what you mean about "what" to do, you want to ensure you help the child feel comfortable selecting which hand without being pushed one way or the other. I was in the same boat. DS would do everything lefthanded at home and i was afraid at preschool/school they'd force him to change.

One teacher insisted he eat right handed. I had a couple talks with her and she told me he did better right handed. He told me she would take the fork out of his hand and put it in his other.

I started telling all his sports coaches "he is a lefty" but i think he prefers to bat right handed, not sure as he is just now 7. I decided i'm going to shut up and let him do what feels natural and develop it on his own. He knows he can say lefty if he wants, or not. In wrestling he was having trouble with a position and the coach asked me if he was left handed. I didn't realize it mattered, once they showed him the lefty way he mastered the skill.

As long as you encourage him to do what feels comfortable, he will pick it up. If he is struggling with something suggest he switch.

DS has trouble in soccer because he can't figure out which foot to kick with. He is super fast but trips up a lot. He'll get it!

Hang in there! He'll get it.

 

[Tink888]

LOL - Another lefty who mouses righty chiming in!!! OP - don't worry and don't do anything, he'll figure it out and be what's he going to be. Growing up I was the only lefty in my family. Now, my oldest son is the only righty in our family. We kid him all the time about being the minority!!

I have to say though about his not knowing which hand was which......I am forty years old and there are STILL times when I have to look at my hands if I'm asked which is left or right. Not sure what that means.......

Being a lefty is pretty cool, well except for the three ring binders and the ink hands, other than that LEFTYS ROCK!!!!!!!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Both my DH, myself and our DD are left handed. Our DS5, on the other hand is ambidexterous. We're just kind of letting him decide what he wants to do. He uses scissors with his right hand, however pitches and bats left. If you ask him what hand he writes with, he puts both hands up. When he does his homework, he switches back and forth between the left and the right.

I say, let him do his thing. DH on the other hand, says left handed pitchers make more money on the professional level.

 

[SAHDad]

DS is a lefty, and this dad is a lefty as well. (DW is a rightie, and DD is probably a righty, but we don't know for sure yet.)

As long as your son is free to use whichever hand he prefers, you should be fine. Just watch for teachers who will attempt to "correct" him if he prefers to use his left hand. And watch toys, tools, etc - there is a lot of stuff that is just plain backwards, from our perspective. (The worst offenders off the top of my head are three-ring binders, ink pens, "ergonomic" computer mice, and some kitchen utensils.)

 

[kathi29]

My DH and I are both left handed and use the mouse on the left side. It just feels foreign to us on the right but I do tolerate it--but of course I switch it the minute I can! I don't write with my left I usually just type notes into word or notepad so that isn't an issue.

As for changing hands, it isn't a big deal. Being left handed isn't like a deformity or strange-- it is a non issue in our house. Both of our kids are right handed and it isnt an issue.

The mouse feels funny to me when it is on the left. But I do love the advantages of some of the right handed setup. Using the keypad, or using my adding machine at work - I do both of those right handed and I never have to set my pencil down to tick off numbers or what not.

 

[gregokdisney]

He used both hands for the longest time - through kindergarten. He finally picked his left hand to write with, but he eats, combs his hair, brushes his teeth, etc. with his right hand. I think it is the weirdest thing, but it works for him.

His kindergarten teacher said not to worry about it and I didn't and he ultimately worked it out.