A KID’S DOODLINGS & DRAWINGS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT LEFT-HANDEDNESS
Nico spent the whole morning of Saturday just doodling and drawing. (Which is good, because for us, that meant so much relief from toy clutter in the home, that, most often than not, were the cause of accidents and disasters to the bare-footed adults trying to the clean the house.)
So while everyone is busy cleaning our respective assigned areas in the house, the little preschooler was pretty much occupied exploring the colors in the new coloring activity book I bought him the other day. I was able to capture in a few shot of him and was practically amazed to see improvements in his coloring. Unlike before when he doesn’t even care whatever color he grabs and wherever he colors on a certain drawing, I’m happy to say that he’s now more conscious on what colors to use for the drawings and put an equally good effort not to mess up around the drawings.
One thing though that never changed as far as doodling, coloring, and writing are concerned is Nico’s being left-handed. I noticed this left-handedness started as early as 1 year old when Nico first experimented using a pen to write on a paper. I thought and hoped it would still change, but it never did, until now.
And so with that as a fact, we are more definite now that Nico’s is indeed a left-handed. Well, I guess if being a left-handed can be inherited, Nico got it from me—me being a left-handed myself. I’m not sure if it comes with the genetic factor, but the four of us in the family—my Mom (who was my first teacher who taught me to write my name), sister Chette, and brother Ferdie—were all left-handed. My Dad and my youngest brother Erick were only the two that’s not.
Aside from genetics, what could have caused Nico’s left-handedness. Wikipedia cited some explanations (those in Italics are my insights, except for the first and second bullets) :
- Long-term impairment of the right hand: Studies show that people with long-term impairment of the right hand are more likely to become left-handed, even after their right hand heals. Such long term impairment may include from 6 months or more.
- Testosterone: According to one theory, exposure to higher rates of testosterone before birth can lead to a left-handed child. This is the Geschwind theory, named after the neurologist who proposed it, Norman Geschwind. It suggests that variations in levels of testosterone during pregnancy shape the development of the fetal brain. Testosterone suppresses the growth of the left hemisphere and so more neurons migrate to the right hemisphere. The highly developed right hemisphere is now better suited to function as the center of language and handedness. The fetus is more likely to become left-handed, since the right hemisphere controls the left half of the body. The theory goes on to tie the exposure to higher levels of testosterone and the resultant right-hemisphere dominance to auto-immune disorders, learning disorders, dyslexia, and stuttering, as well as increased spatial ability.
- Birth stress theory: Left-handedness may be due to stress at birth. (This may hold true for Nico as he was born prematurely under a stressful birthing condition. He even had a Respiratory Distress Syndrome at birth.)
- Ultrasound theory: A popular theory is that ultrasound scans may affect the brain of unborn children, causing higher rates of left-handedness in mothers who have ultrasound scans compared to those who do not. (May be true as far as my pregnancy for Nico is concerned. A high-risk pregnancy required me to be monitored almost weekly via ultrasounds during the first trimester and every other week on the second trimester)
- Learn-and-apply theory: A child simply learns from its environment and, as a result, the majority of people learn to be right-handed; the same goes for left-handed people, and this explains why left-handedness appears to be genetic. (I agree as same holds true based on my experience. My Mom, being my first teacher, taught me to write and seeing her writing with the left hand made me imitate)
I’d said I hoped Nico’s being a left-handed would change because based on my own experience (being a left-handed myself), I know there are more disadvantages that goes with it. In school for example, I experienced having trouble writing on an armchair simply because it’s so designed for the right-handed. If I was asked to write on the board, the teacher found it hard to look at me writing with my neck and head and waist bended sideways. When eating, my classmates find it peculiar to see me using my left hand for the spoon and my right for the fork. And same goes for doing other tasks such as in personal care, cooking, and so on.
The only thing that would make being a left-handed an advantage (again, this is based on my experience) is the belief that left-handed people are more intelligent or creative than the opposite, which, as far as research is concerned, is still an unresolved debate within the scientific community as some studies demonstrated a very slight correlation between left-handedness and creativity/intelligence.
But well, I guess I can never force Nico to switch to being a righty. It’s a preference. Thankfully that with the modern times now, or the enlightened civilization as this site would call it, the perception over left-handed persons and the cultural stigma that goes with it (because before, being left-handed was viewed as something taboo) has died a natural death, allowing me, Nico and those one in 10 people in the world to freely use our left hand!
16 responses so far
Congrats, congrats… I am so happy for you. Hang in there. I’m sure you’ll...
Feng, my son is left-handed too! He inherited that from Hubby’s mother who is left-handed (neither me or Hubby is).
they say people who are left handed (the right side of the brain is more active) are more logical and good in math. i hope so! LOL! as math is my waterloo =P
Hi feng. My son is predominantly a leftie, too. We noticed it when he started reaching for a spoon (10 months & onwards). We’d sometimes put it in his right hand, when we look again he’s holding it on his left hand. His nursery’s noticed it too. The only leftie that we know is my cousin.
We try to encourage him to use both left & right. But left still becomes dominant say when he’s doing the sign of the cross, he gets confused if we ask to use his right hand. I think this would be a “no, no” if my Lola is still alive. Like you said in your last comment, using the left-hand for eating or for signing of the cross is frowned upon in the old days.
I noticed my eldest daughter’s preference for her left hand when she was a few months old: she used it for her thumb sucking. She is a leftie in writing and playing with the lyre. She uses right hand when eating with a spoon or using the mouse. Hubby’s youngest sis is a leftie too. I see no problem with her preference.
i think the stigma isn’t that strong anymore, thank goodness. more power to the lefties!
Nico is doing a great job with his doodles. You might want to encourage him draw and paint(water color). My daughter easily gets tired of coloring books these days. She likes freestyle. It’s a great way of knowing what the kids are thinking.
I’m a leftie and most of my siblings are. In the olden days they were really enforcing right-handedness because they believed the left hand is not good, duh! Then why did God give us both? During my parent’s time old teachers would smack them with rulers if they use the left hand, so my father had to learn to write with his right even if he is a leftie.
I’ve always believed that left handed people are good in arts and often very creative.
Yohan showed preference in using his left hand when he was younger but I corrected it and he is using his right hand now.
My husband is left handed and he shared some of the disadvantages of being a left handed person similar to what you wrote.
Thanks for sharing the works of Nico. He is very good for his age. Just look at how clean his works are and he is good in coloring inside the lines.
My son would often say sorry whenever he goes outside the lines but I would quickly say, it’s ok. I want him to enjoy the activity and not be too scared of making mistakes.
hi Mommies, thanks for dropping by here!
sheilamarie, pareho tayo, i really hate Math din. if the saying that lefties are good in Math, then that should exclude me. what a coincidence ‘no left-handed din pala si Lucho.
auee, good thing we’re now in the modern times ‘no. coz if not, it would be pityful forcing your son to use the right and not the left hand. it’s really a preference.
julie, at least your daughter uses the right hand when eating because as for me, i really forced myself to use the right hand for the spoon as i don’t want to look awkward when eating along with friends and classmates. re: using the mouse, gee, i guess it’ll be troublesome to imagine a person using the mouse with his left hand–right click vs. left clicking will be quite hard.
aloi, you’re right, more power to the lefties!
KK, thank you for the kind words. we just felt he’s too much addicted to numbers and letters already so we thought he needed a break from those. coloring activity books did the trick, though minsan napapagod sya mag-color ng huge drawings.
we’ll try painting din sooner. agree with you, it’s a great way to develop kid’s creativity (though messy lang ‘no).
that’s interesting to know you and most of your family members are lefties too. re: smacking with rulers, i slightly experienced the same with a very strict Teacher in grade school.
re: Nico’s works, oh thanks (mana sa Mommy, haha). agree with you, coloring and other kiddie activities should be viewed by our children as fun, and that it’s but Ok if there are imperfections in their works of art. 
Rach, you must have been a very good trainer that Yohan is now used to using the right hand.
hi feng!
great blog!
hi kathy. thanks for the compliments, and for dropping by here.
My brother’s a leftie. It took a while to teach him how to use the fork and spoon the way righties do it but he got the hang of it. He’s the only one in the family who leftie so we dunno where that came from. Nonetheless, he seems pretty much adjusted. Only he’s annoying to me because he’s probably doing what most little bros are born to do anyway: be as overbearing as possible to big sisters, haha.
Nico’s got excellent coloring skills. May pagka OC yan paglaki, masyado syang careful.
I think he’ll enjoy kiddie art lessons.
Hi Feng! Ako din, I’ve been observing Mateo (kahit na 4-months pa lang sya). I think he will grow up to be a right-handed person kasi I noticed na he will always start doing things with his right hand/arm. Like when he started thumbsucking, nauna sa right; when he first touched his foot, right ulit; when he first ‘held’ his bottle, right pa din.
Ok lang, indifferent naman ako whether he becomes a leftie or not. Hehe! But I remember having that impression also na mas creative and artistic ang mga leftie. I guess it’s showing already kay Nico
hi May! haha, overbearing to older sisters. gee, i could just imagine how tiresome it was for you
good to know he’s pretty much adjusted. ang hirap din naman talaga to force a person to use the right where in contrast, the person is comfortable using the left. re: soon-to-be OC Nico, mukha nga. even when we’re at the grocery store, he’s fond of arranging items in the shelves, how tiring ‘no.
hello andrea, good for Mateo. at least no leftie issue to deal with. yup, agree with you, lefties naman talaga are being perceived as creative though no scientific study have proved this theory yet. if creativity is showing with Nico, well, i guess, ehem, mana sa Mommy
one of my daughters showed an inclination to left handedness when she was nico’s age. but then, my mom, who was with her day and day out tried to correct her left handedness. you know how it is with the oldies. also, at that time, more than 20 years ago, it was really not convenient to be left-handed, as you pointed out (nowadays, though, there are desks for the lefthanded). until now, she keeps telling us that it should not have been corrected–she says at the back of her mind, she still feels she still should be lefthanded. i don’t know why.
hello there sexy mom. being a left-handed is a preference really. maybe your daughter somewhat feels comfy using the left. nga naman, what if she’s a leftie. and yup, oldies talaga naman are mostly against it, my grandparents from both sides are.
wow! ang galing na ni Nico mag color! Boz and I are not there yet, we’re still heavy on the doodling part.
leftie or rightie, so long as they’re healthy! LOL!
hello rox, thanks for visiting. re: heavy on the doodling part, naku, i could just imagine how many casualties of pencils and crayons you’ve had!
agree with you, preference doesn’t matter at all.