If you are left-handed, you are very special. Only 10% of the people in the whole world are left-handed. Here are 15 ways that make you unique:
- You can describe yourself with a fun word... you are a southpaw!
- You were probably left-handed in your Mom’s tummy. Unborn babies show off in ultrasounds by moving their left arm and hand more than their right. Ask your Mom or Dad if you waved at them before you were born.
- You inherited being left-handed. Who else in your family uses their left hand?
- You have something in common with Kermit the Frog! Because most puppeteers are right-handed, most Muppets are left-handed — the user’s dominant hand controls the head, the other controls the arms.
- Katniss Everdeen was left-handed in the Hunger Games movie because teaching Jennifer Lawrence to shoot a bow and arrow right-handed would have been too difficult.
- You are probably better at video games than your right-handed friends and siblings. Lefties usually are due to how information moves around in their brain.
- You get to have special scissors made especially for kids like you!
- Many lefties are great singers. Can you guess what a song is after only hearing a few notes? Some think lefties can remember songs better.
- You always get the best seat in the restaurant booth. You know why? When you use your left hand to eat, you sort of elbow the person sitting to your left. Of course, they don’t want to keep getting poked in the ribs by your elbow, so they’ll give you the outside seat.
- Because of the way you process information, lefties are usually good dancers and also good at remembering directions to places.
- You might be good at baseball. There have always been lots of left-handed major league baseball players. Babe Ruth was left-handed, and so was Lou Gehrig and you will probably get picked first. Coaches love having lefties on their teams. If you can bat, pitch, catch, throw, with your left hand, it’s harder for kids who use their right hands to know what to expect!
- You might be more competitive than your right-handed friends. It’s evolution at work.
- You are probably a master multitasker. Studies have found that lefties have better mental flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory operations. This also means you are natural leader.
- Do you have a vivid imagination? Lefties often have very creative minds such as the man who invented the iPhone and the guy who invented Facebook.
- You might be a math whiz. It’s possible you can solve all sorts of problems faster. People who are left-handed seem to be able to come up with a lot of solutions to one problem.
- You are in great company! Lots of super-smart people in history were (and are) lefties. Of course, Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci are two of the most famous lefties and there have been plenty of US presidents who were left-handed. Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan (who wrote with his right hand), George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama are all lefties.
- You get your own special day! It’s true! International Left-Handers Day is celebrated on August 13 each year.
THREE WAYS TO CELEBRATE YOUR DAY:
1. Issue a challenge:
A funny way to celebrate your day is to challenge your family to copy you performing routine tasks. See if they can brush their teeth, color a picture, comb their hair, or eat dinner using only their left hands!
2. Send this article to other the left handers you know so they can celebrate their uniqueness also!
3. Celebrate by reading a book by or about a left hander:
Righty and Lefty : a Tale of Two Feet
Rachel Vail
Juvenile Picture Books - Ej Vai
A cute story about Lefty and Righty, two feet belonging to the same person. The story tells how the must get along and play together even when they don't always want to. Lefty seems to be a bit more obstinate in this story than Righty, but overall both feet are portrayed in a positive way.
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
Lewis Carroll
Juvenile Fiction - J Carroll
Carroll may have been a suppressed left-hander and was quite good at writing text as a mirror image. His imaginings Through the Looking Glass certainly play on handedness and mirror images throughout the story.
The Marshmallow Incident
Judi Barrett
Juvenile Picture Books - Ej Bar
This picture book tells the story of a Left town and a Right town divided by a yellow line patrolled by the Knights of the Ambidextrous Order. After a battle with marshmallows gets out of hand, both towns realize that the yellow line divider is silly. It is great to see so many left-handed people in one story.
The Legend of Zelda. [1] : Ocarina of Time, Part 1
Akira Himekawa
Juvenile Graphic Novels - J Himekaw
Most of us are familiar with Zelda from various video games. The main character, Link, is left handed. You can read about his adventures in the manga, starting with the Ocarina of Time. Manga read right to left, back to front, so they often feel more natural to lefties that want to flip through them.
Dragon Ball. 3-in-1. Volume 12 : 34, 35, 36
Akira Toriyama
Graphic Novels - Toriyam
This particular title in the Dragonball series introduces Videl, a left-handed student who is the daughter of Lucifer. Videl's character definitely plays on the stereotype that left handedness comes from evil sources. This is a manga title that reads from back to front and right to left as it would in the original Japanese.
Your Left-Handed Child : Making Things Easy for Left-Handers in a Right-Handed World
Lauren Milsom
Adult Nonfiction - 152.335 Mil
If you have left-handed child, this is a valuable resource in helping your child navigate a world made for those using their right hand. It includes tips and tricks about writing, tying shoes, working with tools, and more. I'm left handed and so are two of my children and I still learned some helpful tips from this book.
Want to Save Time looking for things to do with your kids? Our Family Event Calendar is packed full of events, festivals, fairs, story times, and awesome local family fun. We proudly serve families in Duluth, Norcross, Suwanee, Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners and the surrounding area! Sign-up for FREE!
