Lately, we’ve been talking a lot about nursery rooms. The ones we want, the ones we have, and the ones that are Jewish. But many Jewish parents often wait to decorate a baby’s nursery room until after they are born, on account of superstitions involving the ayin hara, or evil eye. One Kveller reader recently wrote to us about just this, and we thought we’d open up the floodgates to the rest of our readers to see what you guys think.
Judith from Miami writes:
So, here’s the problem… My mother insists that I cannot set-up the nursery or have any baby things in the apartment until after the baby is born. My husband and I live far from both of our families (three hour flights). Our friends here all live in small apartments, as do we. I am the first of my friends locally to be pregnant. Because I have nowhere to store things, this means that my husband would have to run to the store right after I give birth and then set everything up (i.e. car seat, crib, clothes, bottles). I think that is crazy and that we should at least buy the essentials before the baby comes. I want to spend the time after birth with my husband and the new baby and not have him running around trying to buy a crib.
My mom believes that having baby things before the baby arrives is bad luck, but I think it’s just being prepared. My mom will come to town to help me about a week before my due date so I can’t lie to her nor do I want to. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any suggestions or compromises? Is there any logic to my mom’s superstition? Also, my brother’s wife is pregnant now as well, and they plan to buy things in advance and keep them at my parent’s house. They live close by.
What do you guys think? What should Judith do? Leave your feelings in the comments below.
