Raising a Lefty

I am a total idiot with my left hand. Sure, I can do some things-- like type. I can swing a bat about equally well with my left and right hands. And I swing a golf club about equally well with my left and right hands. (That should tell you something about the quality of my batting and swinging.) So trying to teach Casey how to do things with his left hand-- particularly the fine motor things (like cutting and drawing)-- well, let's just say I'm not the greatest role model.

Now truth is that kids don't actually set on a handedness until around age 6, and you're not supposed to push them into one hand or the other because they may prefer to do some things with one and some with the other. But me? I don't think I could every do anything with my left hand. I sure can't feed myself or cook with it. But Casey on the other hand, he's pretty darn good with both hands. Yeah, he prefers his left for fine motor things-- but there's no discernible difference in the quality of cutting or drawing between samples done with his right hand as compared to those with his left (and that you should tell you something about the quality of his work!).

But when it comes to sports, this ambidexterity is, for the most part, pretty neat to watch. Casey has recently taken a major liking to baseball. He wants to play baseball every minute of sunlight. He's always had great aim and a strong arm (both with his right and left arms). And now he's taking a shine to batting. Sure, he hits of a tee. But if you over-hand throw a ball to him he. can. hit. it. I can't even do that half the time. Even when people are trying to throw me balls to hit. Then again, I think I've already established we probably shouldn't use my ball skills as a measuring stick.

Anyway, yesterday he started talking about wanting to wear a glove. He didn't know what it was called at first, but Jason tells me he actually found a brown paper bag somewhere in the house and fashioned himself a glove! So today we decided to buy Casey his first baseball glove.

Now this is tricky because Casey is a lefty. He definitely prefers batting right-handed. But he wants to throw the ball with his left hand. And the selection of left-handed gloves for preschoolers is, well, non-existent. They had sponge bob and princess 8.5" gloves. They had 8.5" and 9" right-handed gloves. But I guess there isn't much of a market for the little guys who throw with their left hands. So Casey got a 10" glove (because it was the smallest we could find). And he carried it with him everywhere today.

And I mean everywhere. Check him out as he laid down for his nap: