You come to a riverbank with three children, let’s call them J, C, and K, and a husband, let’s call him Wavid. There is one boat for crossing the river, which can carry no more than two passengers — you (the captain of this ship) and one of your four dependents. Now, if J is ever left alone with any one of her siblings, she will start hitting them. If C is ever left alone with her father, she will have a meltdown. If K is left alone with only one person to watch her, she’ll run off into the forest. And if Wavid is left by himself, he will being to whine. How do you get all four of them to the other side, without pulling out your hair?

January 30, 2011

upe asked: You come to a riverbank with three children, let’s call them J, C, and K, and a husband, let’s call him Wavid. There is one boat for crossing the river, which can carry no more than two passengers — you (the captain of this ship) and one of your four dependents. Now, if J is ever left alone with any one of her siblings, she will start hitting them. If C is ever left alone with her father, she will have a meltdown. If K is left alone with only one person to watch her, she’ll run off into the forest. And if Wavid is left by himself, he will being to whine.

How do you get all four of them to the other side, without pulling out your hair?

Firstly, you’re assuming I wouldn’t just cross the river alone and take off for parts unknown. But let’s assume I’m in a good mood. Here is how I would do it:

1. I go across with C, and leave her on the other side.

2. In the meantime, K takes off into the forest with Wavid and Julia in hot pursuit.

3. I come back, call them all back, then take K across to C and tell them both to run off into the forest and play.

4. I come back and fetch J, leaving Wavid to whine for a bit, which he can totally handle. Once J gets to the other side she will go hunt for her siblings in order to hit them, saving me some time.

5. I grudgingly go back and get Wavid, who has reached the sniffling stage.

6. Come back to where Julia has rounded up her siblings and is preparing to hit them, and there you go.

Next question?

amplecat

Revealing my hidden shallows.