I am completely fascinated by twins, especially because we have a set of our own. Partly because I want to make sure that we raise them as individuals within their dynamic whilst making sure that they stay close, but also because I want to equip them with what the world will assume about them because they look the same.
During both of my pregnancies we used to love watching the “in the womb” series on National Geographic and they had just brought out the twins version when I was pregnant with the girls.
One of the things I remember most is that they referred to twins often being “mirror twins”. In other words, they literally mirror each other, so much so that sometimes even their organs mirror each other (not the case with Mignon and Isabel).
Besides the fact that their personalities and personal tastes are very different, the biggest way that our girls mirror each other is that Mignon is right-handed and Isabel left-handed. I know that technically speaking it is a little early to say your child is left-handed as they are only 4, but Isabel does everything with her left hand, so I think it is safe to say it will probably stay that way.
This brings back lots of memories of the challenges I have seen left-handed people have. For example, my friend Leo always battled to write with those blasted fountain pens we were forced to write with at school as it kept smudging.
My sister (being the only left-handed person in our family) also had her fair share of battles growing up as no-one really catered for lefties in the 80’s. It was difficult to teach her how to eat as a left-handed person because my parents simply didn’t know how. Nowadays I can easily go and buy a pair of scissors specifically for Isabel and I’m comfortable that she won’t be made to feel like a freak or be forced to use her right hand when she goes to school. (as a side bar: they must just try it, she is stubborn as all hell. No idea where she gets it from of course)
So I want to ask: do you have left-handed children or are you left-handed yourself?
What are the biggest challenges you faced? Is there anything we could be doing for Isabel to make it easier for her or something obvious that right-handed people miss that’s hard for lefties?
As always, comments, suggestions and advice is more than welcome!