Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Continuing Saga of the Borekas Bandit

Well, Ricki as of yesterday has "progressed" to not "warning" me not to look before she goes to steal borekas at the local grocery. But she was out of luck, because I was watching anyway, and saw her heading in the direction of the grocery. And to top it off, she missed her ride to school on a rainy morning.
Deciding that I have REALLY had enough of this, and explanations/ withdrawal of privileges/and punishments ARE NOT WORKING, I sat down to evaluate the situation.
What is she gaining? Her favorite food ( which she hasn't been getting, as I was trying to use them as a bribe to get Ricki to wear her hearing aid).
What do I want? For Ricki to reach the taxi that takes her to school on time, and not to steal borekas.
Contributing factor: She does not have to "answer" to the macolet man. He doesn't feel that he can disapline her, and it ia as if she doesn't realize that he is the owner.

So I decided (especially since the borekas are NOT getting her to wear her hearing aid anyway….) that Ricki can have FOUR borekas a week, as long as she:
1. Doesn't steal them
2. Reaches her ride on time.
3. Doesn't stuff them in her mouth, but puts the borekas in a bag and SHOWS the grocery clerk.
4. 4 No more than two on any given day.

So I set up with the grocery store owner a system to accomplish this, by his having to sign weekly on a card that she has (that she did not steal), as well as the amount bought on any day, (so she can see if she has any more "credit") And I sign her card that she got on her ride on time. And as an added incentive, if she doesn't steal, we will pick pot an extra treat for her each Friday. My husband is much less enthusiastic about this than I am, his main fear being that she will miss her ride. (If she does, it is not the end of the world, especially if the weather isn't rainy….) I told him that as I see it, this is the only way we can get her out of this stealing habit before it gets any worse. It will take a fair amount of effort on my part, but if it works, it will be worth it.

3 comments:

Galiah said...

I like your plan! if you can't beat'em, join'em...
also, "mayim genuvim yimtaku"-- stolen waters are sweeter...--
while i know ricki has a penchant for borekas, she may find that it's not enticing now that it's permissible..
i like your innovative idea of making it permissible, with a limit, which gives her some control. WTG!

Pink (AKA Lucia) said...

I was wondering how tasty the borekas were, since Ricki likes them so much. So I googled Borekas to see what they looked like and how they tasted (recipes) as I am Cherokee/Ojibway, not Isreali Jewish so I have never had any borekas. But I live in San Antonio where we have mainly Spanish speaking Mexicans here, so I don't think we have any Jewish shops around here, at least not in my part of the city. I will have to try to find a shop here so I can try a Boreka. We do have soy patties and soy hot dogs. They are quite tasty. They are found in the vegetarian section of any grocery store. But not the borekas. I would love to try some as they sound so delicious. One recipe mentioned mushrooms in the borekas and that had me drooling! I love mushrooms.

rickismom said...

Yeah, the mushroon ones are VERY good (and, as all borekas are, sinfully fattening.....)