Kiddo#1 can solve the Rubik’s Cube. It’s not a big deal to him because my Patient Husband can do the same. Whenever he does it, it impresses people.
For a while, Kiddo#1 had a business at school: he and another kid would solve Rubik’s Cubes for all the other kids in the grade. They never charged for the service; I said they should charge a dime. Hey, it’s money. But they just gave out numbers, lined up the cubes at the lunch table, and solved them one at a time, assembly-line style.
Kiddo#3 always wants to play with a Rubik’s Cube when K1 has it, so for his birthday, he got his own. Instead of nine squares per side, it has only four. Ironically, Kiddo#1 doesn’t know how to solve that one. Kiddo#2 likes to play with them, but she’s like me and can’t solve them.
Kiddo#2 can solve other sorts of problems, though. Kiddo#1 can get very territorial, and he likes to have his space. If he’s in his room with the door shut, and she knocks, he’ll bark at her, “GO AWAY!”
Kiddo#2 knows, however, that Kiddo#1 cannot stand (above all else) for someone to do something wrong. And she wanted to get into his room. So this morning, I heard her knock at his door, get told to GO AWAY, and then return a few minutes later. Witness as Kiddo#2 wins:
She said, “I can’t solve the arubicks cube.”
He flung open his door and shouted, “It’s not an arubicks cube! It’s a RUBIK’S CUBE!”
And he went into his room to solve it, letting her follow him inside. Because you see, he is smart, but so is she.
Two weeks ago, we visited a friend’s house for a cookout and a pool party. The kids all had a great time, in and out of the pool, in and out of the house. A terrific time was had by all, the older boys playing off by themselves and the younger ones playing all together.
The father of the other kids told us later, “I was in J’s room, and I noticed his Rubik’s Cube had been solved. And I thought, ‘Ah. Kiddo#1 was here.’”
Yes indeed, he was: leaving a trail of solved Rubik’s Cubes in his wake.
The 2X2 was designed to be harder than the 3X3, weirdly enough. John can solve both.
Has he tried the 5X5?
We’ve got a 4×4 that my Patient Husband can solve if he works really hard. But no 5×5. That’s crazy-making. 🙂
uh…maybe you should tell Kiddo #1 that it’s actually called a Rubik’s Cube after Professor Rubik who invented it?
I used to be able to do a 3×3 but I’ve forgotten the tricks. I own a 4×4, and a couple of weird ones with the corners cut off which are really 3x3s but look different. Never seen a 2×2.
No, you should tell ME. That’s my error, not his. :#)
The 2×2 was in the game aisle at Toys R Us. I just happened to see it and picked it up.