Getting a grip on pen grips

Sure you had days you can't help but compare developmental milestones, among siblings, cousins, friends' kids... Not to belittle each child's abilities but to actually celebrate them. And to worry about your own kids not doing what the rest of the world is.

Kuya B held the pencil with the perfect tripod grasp at 1 year 2 mos. I had no problems with the other fine motor skills except with cutting since he's a lefty. I wouldn't want him to get used to a pair of lefty scissors (yes there's such). Baby girl at 18mos. is already on static tripod (see chart). She just picked up a regular pencil and doodled away.

Here's the progression of pen grasps per age level. This is from  this site.

But with Diko M, every manual stroke seems difficult - from writing, coloring, cutting, pasting. I want to blame the iPad for that, or the laptop trackpad (he does it like a champ, and we don't mouse around). But I guess he just happens to be built that way.

rubber triangular grip reinforcement

Like many other, I used the biggie crayons. Oh was he unhappy with those. Then I gave him the jumbo pencils (Boo, Mommy, Boooo!); all the more was he frustrated. I also tried using the triangular rubber grips to improve his grasp, but he'd remove them and use them for the Nerf guns (gah). Then he wanted to use Kuya's regular crayons. He held them so tight, he'd break them everytime. He'd be contented and calm in peeling the crayons' paper labels (I think I did that too back in preschool), breaking the crayons into tiny bits.  He despised writing. He later on preferred markers.

I saw this video on how to teach the correct pen grasp. This is brilliant! But heck, when I taught Diko that, he would be holding the pencil using his thumb and index. He'd be toying with the method before he traces letters/numbers, and would be spending a lot of time twirling the pencil instead.

Then alas, while he was coloring (I dumped all of our crayons in a plastic basket, broken and intact), he picked up the really shortest one and voila! He was using the dynamic tripod grip without me prompting! I'm sure you know what I did next.

One for each basic 8 colors; not more than an inch approx.

Now, he's writing like a champ! No more frustration fits! He prefers the crayons more than the pencil, but I know we'll come to that. This Momma doesn't care how long.

So when you're panicky like me, caught up in a when-will-my-child-do-this moment, seek comfort through the verse "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Guess I myself haven't mastered the trust-and-wait skill yet.