Leftys Unite!

I'm not sure how many of you know this -but I am a south paw. Apparently, my left handedness is obvious. SnoWhite was able to guess that I was left handed from my printing on her Christmas card ... I never realized a person could tell such a thing from one's writing.

I have never been ashamed of my left handedness. Thankfully, I was raised in a time where left handedness was accepted. Although I know that there was a time where teachers and parents would try to correct left handedness by making children write, cut, and do other activities with their right hand until they finally got it right (literally).

But, no, I have always embraced my identity as a lefty. My grandfather is also a lefty, as was my great grandmother. As my grandpa always says, "They say that if you are right handed, you think with the left side of your brain and if you're left handed, you think with the right side of your brain. So, us leftys are the only ones who are in our right mind!"

Despite the fact that I do not dislike being a lefty, I must admit, there are times where my left handedness has proven to be difficult. You see, I'm a left handed girl living in a right handed world.

When I was young, I played (or at least tried to play t-ball). Every time I went up to bat, the coach would come out to the mound and turn me around until finally my mom pointed out that I was left handed, and so I was positioning myself in a way that felt comfortable to me.

I can't write on a chalkboard to save my life and I have to ensure that I have pens that do not bleed or else I will erase and smudge my writing as I move from left to write on the page, as my left hand passes over the words I have just writing (Hm, I guess this is a time where it would be nice if us Canadians actually did read and write from right to left!)

When I sit down at a table to have dinner, I make sure to strategically place myself so that I am on the left hand side in order to avoid bumping elbows with my neighbor throughout the entire meal.

I have never been much for those awkward, green handled, lefty scissors that they provided for me in school either. Perhaps because at home I learned to adapt and adjust to using normal scissors to cut with my left hand. So, when I went to school and my teachers forced me to use these crazy scissors, my fine motor skills usually resembled that of a two year old.

(source)

There are many things I have learned to adapt to as a left handed lady. I play sports (or try to ... remember, I don't actually play sports) using right handed equipment, I find pens that don't smudge, I hold my hand in a super awkward position any time I must write on a chalkboard or white board, I consciously think about where I sit at a dinner table, and I use my left hand to cut with right handed scissors.

But just this weekend, I discovered another area where left handedness is not taken into consideration.

Stroller design.

The dude and I went out for breaky on Saturday to a place that is located right beside Babies R Us, so we decided to pop in for a few minutes just to start looking around. Or, maybe, I should admit, we went out for breaky because the place was right beside Babies R Us and I needed a way to bribe him into that area of the city.

We started looking at car seats and strollers because that is one purchase that I feel will take quite a lot of thought, research and consideration on my part.

And let me tell you ... those strollers that advertise the good old "one handed fold" should be advertising the good old "one hand fold IF YOU ARE RIGHT HANDED".

I am pretty sure I looked like a complete and total fool standing there in Babies R Us as my sweet husband tried ever so patiently to demonstrate and teach me just how it was that I was supposed to maneuver these gadgets into and out of the folded up position.

He would try showing me how he did it, he would try showing me exactly what pullies and switches and pieces my action would move in order to fold up the stroller but nothing worked. I kept standing there awkwardly, either trying to fold it up with my useless right hand or trying to use my left hand, which only made it worse as it required me to contort my arms and legs around the strollers in strange and inhuman ways. I can't even imagine the dilemma I would face if I was attempting to do this while holding a squirming child in my arms.

Based on our Saturday morning experience, it looks as though I am going to need to purchase a stroller months in advance of my baby's arrival, simply so that I can spend my days practicing how to fold it up and down ... because as it stands, it ain't pretty.

So for all you right handed folks out there - next time you are completing a simple task, such as collapsing a stroller - please be mindful of us lefties out there who just don't have it quite so easy.