Did you mirror write as a kid? Still do it?

I really don’t remember mirror writing. My mom tells these stories about it. I also wrote with both hands. After testing they decided my right was more dominant and forced me to only use the right hand. So now I write right-hand with my wrist all curled up. :smack: Horrible penmanship.

That’s all gone now. Can’t easily read or write mirror writing anymore.

How about you?

I wonder if modern kids ever mirror write? Don’t most learn to write on computers or smart phones these days? Can’t easily mirror write on a computer.

I can mirror write. I don’t ever need to, but I can. I can also write regular letters with my right hand and mirror images of the same letters with my left hand, simultaneously. Though I highly doubt that these are unique talents.

If you mean writing backwards so that it looks correct when you hold it up to a mirror, yes, I did that a few times as a kid. I did it first just to see if I could, then did it a few times for no real reason after that. Never tried hard at it, but found it easy to do.

I just tried it again after reading your post. I got hung up on one S trying to figure out which way it should go. When I intentionally tried not to think about it and just did it I was able to write backwards pretty quickly (almost as fast as forwards). It’s also fairly legible, though I have bad handwriting so saying it’s just as good as my regular writing isn’t really saying much.

ETA: I am right handed, I write with my right hand, and mirror write with my right hand as well. I can’t write (normally or mirror) very well with my left hand at all.

I’ll add, I’m right-handed. My left-handed mirror is legible, but doesn’t look nearly as good as my right hand writing. I will note, it’s much easier for me to write backwards (mirror image) with my left hand than to write forward, oddly (or perhaps not oddly) enough.

Yup, I did. I don’t have much stuff from when I was a kid, but one thing I do have is from when my sister Barbara taught me to write my name when I was 2 - I remember doing it - and every single letter is backwards. I think some letters stayed backwards longer than others - I know S was definitely the wrong way round for a long time.

Kids these days still learn to write with pen/pencil and paper. My daughter hardly did any mirror writing, except for the initial of her first name, J, same as my sticking point was the first letter of my first name.

From what my moms told me, my mirror writing came out very naturally. I wasn’t trying to do it. It probably came out most from my left hand. That may be why the teachers forced me to use my right hand.

Today, I could flip my letters and write backwards. But it would take awhile as I thought really hard about each letter. It wouldn’t be natural like when I was 6.

Da Vinci wrote many of his notes in mirror writing. We’re in very good company.

I occasionally do it on HELLO MY NAME IS badges just as a conversation starter. After someone tells you about it, you can say “it looked fine when I looked in the mirror.” It’s a little depressing how often someone says “it’s upside down.”

I made some T-Shirt slogans a few years ago. Using iron on transfer paper. When you print there’s an option to mirror image print. Very cool. Letters come out the right way when you iron it onto the T-shirt.

I used to have a compulsive urge to write “REDRUM” all the time.

That is of course until my Mom took all my markers away from me.

Why on earth did she do that?

For a short period in college, I taught myself how to mirror-read and mirror-write with my dominant (right) hand. I used to take philosophy notes in mirror, because I paid more attention to the words that way (and it was more fun, and they did it in Da Vinci Code! :p). I used to mirror-write lowercase E’s and A’s backwards a lot though, especially toward the end of a class. I even gained a passable cursive over the months, although the letters tended to get quite slanty.

I still have the skill, but I very rarely have to handwrite anything at all. I don’t think I will ever lose it, but who knows? The more years I go without significant practice, the rustier I’m bound to get.

Never written anything legible with my left hand, though. I’ve tried a fair few times, just to see if I was ambidextrous (because my mom was), but I can’t do it at all. My mom blames her ambidexterity on being a lefty and going to Catholic school. They forced her to write with her right hand, but she still wrote with her left at home. Now she can do both.

Now in the electronic age, we have upside-down typing to entertain us (see the relevant MPSIMS thread!). I can’t write upside-down, although I believe I could learn.

Anecdote not related to anything: (source)

This made me laugh, remembering a time in high school when I was driving, best friend in the back seat, who was asking questions about the front seat passenger by holding up notes in mirror writing for me to see in the rearview mirror. I could nod or shake my head without the passenger noticing.

I did it, for fun. My parents and my sister were somewhat taken aback. But then, I was a weird child. I also read the dictionary for fun.