| The floors of the living space of our home is | | | | spontaneously grabs a toy.Having identified a left |
| completely laid with marble, cut out of limestone, | | | | handed child positively, support the child by helping |
| and polished to a silvery sheen. It was cool for | | | | him with writing and painting exercises.Left handed |
| the tropics and for the hot day.But it was also | | | | kids have tensed-up hand position. When they |
| slippery, especially if water is spilt on to it.That | | | | write with their left hand, they get tensed up |
| was why, one fine day, our baby boy Vin who | | | | easier because they find it harder to see what |
| was barely a toddler at three years old, stepped | | | | they are writing.Therefore, the parent should lay |
| on his split drink from his plastic cup, and fell.The | | | | the paper to the left of the child, and clockwise |
| doctor diagnosed a slight fracture on his left hand, | | | | about 30 degrees to the right, with the hand held |
| and after a few days in a sling, the fracture | | | | below the line on which the child is writing.Teach |
| healed by itself as it was very slight, and he was | | | | the child to use his right hand to hold the paper on |
| well again.That taught us a lesson of home safety | | | | the right side.Should a parent force the left |
| for kids. Always ensure the floors are dry if they | | | | handed child to use his right?The Green Cross |
| are not carpeted.But there was more to this.I | | | | emphasised that parents must never force and |
| discovered Nature had a way to compensate for | | | | try to train a left handed child to become |
| the fracture. Very soon, it seemed Vin liked to | | | | right-handed. Reasons?The left-handed child will |
| use his left hand that had been fractured before | | | | start to have concentration problems and |
| more often than his right, and that became his | | | | difficulties, and also develop negative psychological |
| strong hand.He was using his left hand for writing, | | | | effects later on in life.Did I force my son to be |
| for playing with the crayons, and for holding his | | | | ambivalent?When he was 10 years old, I took him |
| toys.He was a "leftie"!Questions raced through my | | | | to the largest Left-Handed Shop in the world. It |
| mind.Should I trained him against his natural desires | | | | was located in The Quay, in Sydney Harbor area. |
| to be ambivalent - to use both hands for writing? | | | | He was beaming with all the toys, the utensils and |
| Would it be harmful to him emotionally and | | | | everything else that was designed for the |
| personally? How would this affect him when he is | | | | left-handed world. Here inside this shop, he was |
| older? Would he resent having been forced | | | | able to find everything designed to meet his |
| against his will?What a dilemma it was!Let us see | | | | needs as a left-hander.To this day, Vin is still |
| what the German advice center for left-handers, | | | | left-handed and writes beautifully with his left |
| "The Green Cross" in Marburg said.The first test | | | | hand.Peter Lim is a Certified Financial Planner and a |
| to apply is to identify the left-handed child. This is | | | | webmaster. |
| easily done by observing with which hand he first | | | | |