Welcome to OMG Parenting!

I am a parent. And, I have been looking into the faces of babies, parents, and grandparents for over 20 years in my work as a clinical and public health nurse. I have felt the joys, hopes, disappointments, traumas, grief, fears, concerns, laughter and love of parents and children. I have heard their thoughts and feeling. I have seen their actions and the effects of those actions. I have interacted with the myriad of professionals who weave in and out of family life. Because of this and being a parent, I have a great appreciation for the range of experience that exists within and between each parent and child.

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Parenting Q & A

Question

What’s the history of Halloween?

Answer

During the 8th century (that’s the 700’s) there was a celtic festival, Samhain, in which people lit bonfires and wore costumes to ward off ghosts. They believed there was a thin boundary between this world and the dead.

Also during the 700’s, November 1 became All Saints Day per Pope Gregori III (it was originally in May). These two days started to merge when the evening before All Saints Day became All Hallows Eve, then Halloween (hallows meant saints). People dressed as saints, or in ways to ward off ghosts.

Fast forward to the early 1900s, candy became beneficial. It started as a way of preventing pranks (like overturning the outhouse). And has simply remained, along with costumes that have evolved into a focus on creative, spooky, funny, or …easy.

And now, with COVID19, neighborhoods are coming together to keep it germ-safe.