Sarve Janaha Sukhino Bhavanthu......Raghavan.......
This weblog has been created by Rajesh Vijayaraghavan for his beloved appa- Vijayaraghavan Parameshwara Iyer,fondly addressed by all as 'Raghavan'. Piyers refers to the lineage left by his father Mr.Parameshwara Iyer and hence the name of this blog www.piyers.blogspot.com
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
ABC of Babysitting while visiting children in USA
ABC of Babysitting while visiting children in USA
Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. It emerged as a social role for teenagers in 1920. In suburban America it became important in 1950s and 1960s when there was abundance of small children. In India also the concept of Babysitting is not much popular as working parents find it necessary for someone to take care of their small children at home . In many families the parents of the male member or the female member who happened to be senior citizen come and stay with such working couple and take care of their children at home, Of course the presence of elder members like parents and others in extended families make the children feel at home comfortable when both the parents work and are available at home only during holidays.
Being grandparents of four American born grandchildren it became necessary to visit them periodically after retirement from service in 2007.Blessed with tiny kids we feel privileged and happy to visit our children and grandchildren in America since 2007 till now. 2018….say around 8 times and in a period of twelve years till 2018 had presence in U S A during the last ten years.
It was an opportunity to experience and enjoy the pleasure of Babysitting coupled with visiting various places there along with children, In short out of fifty states of the United states of America, we had occasion to picnic or stay in more than 13 states namely Kentucky, New Jersey , Oklahoma ,Texas, California, Massachusetts, Chicago, Michigan, Cincinnati, Washington DC, Nebraska, Tennessee, etc, ,Arizona, Florida, etc.
It was after retirement from service in 2007 we had to be with our daughter at Austin Texas when she was preparing for her admission in US for Medical residency, preparing for USMLE exams, etc. Her mother used to sit with her during her preparations supporting with occasional snacks, tea. Coffee etc and were stationed at our son's house at Austin.
In 2007 Austin Texas was the first place we had to stay where our first granddaughter Dhwani was born, We were taking care of her since her 3rd month after birth . I was necessary as both our son and daughter in law were working and we need to k look after the child at home during their absence .As a routine babysitting we took care to note the timings of feeding the child with milk every two hours …by noting down the timetable in a white board hung in the kitchen. We had to change her diapers and sit with the child showing some new things or actions , Also it was necessary to sit with the child around the rocker listening to some musical tune adjusted and hear d while the rocker was rotating and child remaining sleeping , Other daily duty ended after the father or mother returned home after work by 5 PM. It was a pleasure living in the sole company of the grandkid realizing the depth of love and affection we had toward the child by seeing the smiling or crying face of the infant with different expressions in face. Growth of teeth and teething trouble, change of food from liquid to semi solid, giving her bath every two days using tub, towel , soap, etc was part of our routine. It was all interesting and enjoyable. More interesting were the times she spilt milk or threw away food not found tasty or palatable by her and the costumes or new dresses worn by her now and then. Austin being capital of the state Texas had a large of computer related companies.
It was Boston capital of Massachusetts in 2013 where the granddaughter Poorvi through our daughter was born, It was her mother's privilege at Beverley Hospital M Salem MA from time of birth and all others including me were at home or say the apartment at Salem for about 5 months taking care of the baby, Boston is an important place in the state of Massachusetts. Later in 2017 we were back at California at San Jose to take care of grandson Vaibhav through daughter , We enjoyed staying there too taking care of the children.
Later in 2017 we were back at California at San Jose to take care of grandson Vaibhav through daughter , We enjoyed staying there too taking care of the children and also being with the children of our son at Fremont who stayed nearby daughter's house in California at Santa Clara.
ABC of Baby sitting or Austin, Boston, California of Babysitting is being experienced and enjoyed by us being present at these places during births of grandchildren and also visiting many other states of USA during the said period and seeing many new places. Among others some of the places we visited are Marathon caves Kentucky, Pentagon, New York, Nasdaq Stock Exchange, United States Senate Chamber at Washington DC,U S Bureau of Engraving and Printing US Currency, New York Stock Exchange, White house at Washington DC, Universal studios, Florida, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Manhattan, Washington square , Tennessee, Corpus Christie , Nebraska, statue of liberty, Liberty Island, Golden gate San Francisco, Ghirardelli Chocolate factory California, Toyota Car making facility at Georgetown ,Kentucky state, Eiffel Towers, Disney Land etc..Las Vegas, Tulsa Oklahoma, Michigan, Washington DC,. Gloucester vales watch, Inks Lake, Watkins Glen, Ithaca Boston, ,MIT Cambridge MA, Harvard university, Binghamton state University of New York, Niagara falls, California science academy, Louisville, Hazard Kentucky, Poughkeepsie Hudson Valley New York, Harvard University Cambridge MA,JFK Airport, New York ,Cincinnati, Times square New York and a few others.
The periods of our Babysitting in USA reminds us of days when we brought up our kids under our complete control, supervision and presence and at that time there was no need to leave children under such Babysitters as there was no necessity. We have been fortunate to live with our parents during our childhood with no Babysitting etc.
Out of fifty states in the USA a few of them not visited by us are as under..
Alabama,,Alaska,,Arizona,Arkansas,Colarado,Georgia.Hawai,Kansas,Minnesota,Mississippi,Misssouri,Montana,New Mexico, North Carolina. Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
During our visits to USA we had opportunity to be present during these festivals
New Years Day also called New Year or New Year's is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar.
Martin Luther King Jar day …January 16th Birthday of Martin Luther King.
Presidents Day ,, 20th Birthday of George Washington first President of America
Memorial Day….29th May remembering people who died while on active service. .usually the last Monday in the month of May
Independence day…4th July ..commemorating adoption of declaration of independence
Labor Day….5th September . .honors . American Labor movements,
Columbus Day…..10th October…Anniversary of Christopher Columbus and discovery in America,
Veterans Day 11th November..….History of veteran of world war 1
Thanksgiving day… ..24th November….fourth Thursday of November in USA a reunion of family members
Christmas…25th December Birth of Jesus Christ..
Black Friday….one of the busiest shopping days in USA in November every year,
Good Friday and Easter……Good Friday comes before Easter in November..
While reading the history of America we come across the names of a few Presidents as under…
George Washington ,
John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison,
Andrew Jackson,
Franklin Pierce
Abraham Lincoln,
Andrew Johnson,
Chester Arthur,
Grover Cleveland,
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt,
Woodrow Wilson,
Franklin D Roosevelt,
John F Kennedy,
Richard Nixon,
Gerald Ford,
Jimmy Carter,
Ronald Regan,
George H W Bush,
Bill Clinton.
Barrack Obama,
Donald Trump…
The main Political parties in USA are Republicans and the Democrats..
American Flag have fifty stars representing fifty states of the country, There are 13 stripes in the flag because there were 13 original colonies. The star -spangled Banner is the national anthem of America. The capital of United states is at Washington D C. George Washington was the first President of America and is called the father of the nation.
We have had experience of various Time Zones in United states of America. We have no such occasions of Daylight saving in India. There are more than 10 Time Zones in USA. The continent USA or North America has 4 standard Time Zones. In addition Alaska, Hawaii and 5 US dependencies all have their own Time Zone.
Names of Time Zones..
Pacific Time
Central Time
Eastern Time and
Mountain Time.
Daylight saving Time Zone Mechanism are second Sunday in March and 1st Sunday in November every year.
Arizona has no Daylight saving time and hence the Time Zone doesn't set clocks forward anytime during the year.
Capitals of a few States are as under…
Arizona…..Phoenix
Alabama .. Montgomery
Alaska … Juneau
Arkansas…Little Rock
California….Sacrament
USA…. Washington DC
Colorado….Denver
Connecticut….Hartford
Florida Tallahassee
Hawaii …Honolulu
Illinois…Springfield
Indiana …Indianapolis
Kansas…Topeka,
Kentucky..Frankfort
Maine . .Augusta
Massachusetts…..Boston
Michigan…. Lansing
Missouri Springfield
New Jersey Trenton
Nebraska Lincoln
New Mexico …Santa Fe
New York Albany
Oklahoma …Oklahoma
Oregon…Salem
Pennsylvania….Harrisburg
Ohio Columbus
Rhode Island…Providence
Tennessee…. Nashville
Texas…. Austin
Utah … Salt Lake city
Virginia Vermont
Washington …..Olympia
Wisconsin…..Madison
Wyoming … ..Cheyenne
We were in USA during presidential elections on three occasions.
'2008….Obama Barrack Democrat got elected
2012 Barrack Obama got elected
2016….Ronald Trump Democrat nominee elected..
We have also stayed through the four seasons in America
Summer…June to August,
Winter…begins on the Winter solstice
Fall ( autumn) ….September to November,
Spring…March to May
There are two equinoxes every year in September and March when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal.
We have travelled through the following Airports in USA and others like Heathrow Airport London , Frankfurt ,Singapore ,etc..
Other important Airports in USA are…
Chicago O'Hare International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
Dallas/Fort worth International Airport,
John F Kennedy International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport
La Guardia Airport LGA New York City
Boston Logon International Airport
Nashville International Airport
Kansas City International Airport
Top 10 largest companies in USA are
Wal-Mart
Berkshire Hatchway
Apple
Exxon Mobile
United Health Group
CVS Health
General Motors
And other companies like
IBM
Dell
Face book
Google
Microsoft
Amazon
Texas Instruments
San Disk and others.
List of largest daily US newspapers sin the order of circulation are
The New York Times
Washington Post
USA Today
Houston Chronicle
The Wall street journal
Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles Times
New York Post
Ten top breaches of America are…
1 - Kapalua Bay Beach, Maui, Hawaii. ...
2 – Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, North Carolina. ...
3 – Grayson Beach State Park, Florida. ...
4 – Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York. ...
5 – Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. ...
6 – Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, North Carolina. ...
7 - Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida.
There are many Hindu temples in USA and a few among them are
Ganesh Temple New York
Akshadham temple New Jersey
Marlin Hindu Temple California
Sri Siva Vishnu Temple Washington DC
Swaminarayan Mandir Houston
Venkateswara temple Atlanta
Radha Madhav Dham Texas
Ram temple Greater Chicago
Murugan temple Maryland
Sri Venkateswara temple Illinois
Sree Meenakshi Temple Texas
Sankar Mochan Hanuman temple California
Sri Venkateswara temple Pittsburg
Shiva Vishnu temple South Florida
Shirdi Sai temple Connecticut
Guruvayurappan temple Marlboro New Jersey
Top US Rivers by Length
Missouri
Mississippi:
Yukon
Rio Grande
St. Lawrence
Arkansas:
Colorado:
Atchafalaya:
Ohio Red:
During our visit to USA last year in 2017 we were specifically required to take care of our grandson Vaibhav and a poem written in this connection is given below…
Neither am a Night Watchman in Cricket Match,
Nor a Goal keeper in soccer or football watch,
Remain as Daycare father or mother great,
Enjoy the visit as a Baby sitter or grandfather right..
Enjoy the dawn of morning see smiling face of toddler,
Feed him milk, formula ,semi solid and fruit matter,
Get bitten by incisors erupt as six months old,
Pat and touch at back help him sleep as told.
Little deeds of kids remind us go,
Acts of love we showered and felt years ago,
When we too played , learnt and troubled them as kids,
Parents were from of God who take care of us for all odds.
What is life without love we feel and remember and remain,
One between the man and woman in love which rarely remain,
The strong one among siblings and children of parents so dear,
The strongest being love of father and mother to children for ever.
Dress him warm with cloth and shining
Make him sit in high chair standing,
change bib or diaper and do wiping ,
Clean overflowing mouth of liquid after eating,
Support him stand amidst crawling ,sitting and climbing,
Cover the sleeping kid in crib with warm clothing,
Watch him steal and taste particles lying on ground ,
Pull him back while crawling behind grandma old ,
Moves around the island in kitchen and rooms around,
He pulls all electric power cable attached in wall good.
Fever or cold he faces with infection,
Medicines and care of parents found for perfection,
He joins us see TV programs when free in noon,
Dance of Jimikki kamal dance and others seen.
In guarded stroller we take him out,
Go to the Murdock park in and out,
Allow his father work throughout,
Assist us complete our daily workout.
This is the routine life of senior grandparents,
Who live in America as visitors and parents,
Of children who were kids sometime thus,
And bestow their children as gifts for us.
About California where we stayed for maximum period
Orange is a city located in Orange County, California. California is a state of fruits and nuts...My granddaughter calls her new house in San Jose as orange trees' house and she is studying in school Appleseed Montessori at Sunnyvale CA..My daughter works in Kaiser Permanente Medical Center , Santa Clara CA which she says is next to I pad, etc maker Apple Inc.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Apple is an American multinational technology company that is headquartered in Cupertino, California, which designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services
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Many cities , counties ,states in USA are having names related to fruits.
I recollect one place Tiruchirapalli in Tamilnadu where we have lived for six years from 1988 famous for sugarcane, paddy, banana fruits, mangoes, etc .It was pleasure for children to climb trees and pluck mangoes ,gua fruits and eat after sharing with others. I remember my elder sister Lakshmi who visited us at Tiruchirapalli once asking in our language Tamil Malayalam ..''Raghavaa ..oru perakkai.. porichu tharaya??..meaning Oh Raghava.. will you pluck and get me one gua fruit ??? Incidentally I recollect her staying at Mayavaram Lodge , Tiruchirapalli and getting me Adai Aviyal,etc there My eldest sister Parvathi who visited us once during Mahamaham festival of Kumbakonam on 18 th February,1992 also tasted the mangoes and accompanied us to Kumbakonam for seeing the festival and Jayalalithaa on her birthday.. Magam star.
Mango pickles like Avakkai,etc were made, distributed to relatives and stored in ceramic jars for whole year and ripe fruits eaten .. Of course my spouse took care of selling surplus fruits, coconuts and drumsticks at very good rates and saving money from the proceeds . In addition there were many coconut trees in the house at Thillainagar, Tiruchirapalli ..with tender coconuts, the sweet water and the coconuts from a number of trees providing us cool water, coconuts for making daily dishes like sambar,koottu,chutney,etc.
Here in Fremont CA at our son's house, we have the following trees, plants, grapevines growing fruits.
Grapes,
Pomegranate,
Apple,
Kiwi fruit,
Pear,
Avocado ,.
Plum,
Gua ..a variety,
Orange and lemon plants are just planted and are growing.
There are twenty-four rose plants surrounding the house with different colors flowering in abundance during seasons' pluck and keep one flower in front of lamp near the pictures of God..Goddess daily...
Bagavad Gita says...
patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktyaa prayacchati |
tadaham bhaktyupahritamashnaami prayataatmanaha || 26 ||
One who presents a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water with devotion to me, I will consume that loving gift from that pure hearted being.
Tomato large size and small size ...... ..
..Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes ..as called are grown throughout the year in large quantities ..
It is in daughter's new house at San Jose..near Cupertino, A we have trees of orange, lemon and naarthangai grown in large quantities throughout the year and thus granddaughter calls is Orange Tree house .
It is tasty and medically healthy to eat some of these fruits..
We eat apple daily .as we have heard...An apple a day keeps the Doctor away....
We get all vegetables in USA and we make our vegetarian dishes making use of them. In this connection a small write up is given here..
Ammachi cutting vegetables and fruits in America....
We get all types of vegetables and fruits in USA and most of them we get and use in India . Also many vegetables are grown in our houses as we have seen at Hazard KY where my brother Dr Narayan stays...they grow green chilies, brinjal,ladies finger, tomato, peerkankai, beans, apple, etc in large quantities. in Fremont CA where our son Rajesh stays..they have all fruits almond, cashew nut, apples, plum, grapes, mango,etc large number of flowers of rose variety, and in Marblehead Salem MA where our daughter Chitra lives they have apples, brinjal, tomato, greens , and pumpkin white and yellow ... also grown regularly in their backyards, and in New Jersey where our Sudha stays and Tulsa where Sridhar stays...they too have all fruits and lemon.. narthangai, etc in large quantities. Our daughter Chitra during her Medical Residency at Omaha, Nebraska used to say the state being largely agriculture based with mechanical tools for plouging,watering,removing,and corns,beans,sugarcane are main crops grown there.
Tartaric acid, Citric acid, Oxalic Acid, Malic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Picric acid ,salicylic acids, and others are found in fruits. Many of the fruits contain fructose which may not be good for diabetics but there are fruits containing less of sugar and others containing less salt or Sodium chloride etc.. .which we have to choose as per needs or body restrictions. Banana fruit contains Potassium but also fructose...so it is to be decided for consumption for people having blood sugar level, cholesterol problems .. Hypertension etc. Mango fruit contains maximum sugar content as also date fruit which diabetics should avoid..Papaya and koyyappazham are generally preferred for diabetics containing less fructose but with a little energy, proteins etc..
Some vegetables nuts are alkaline like Almond, artichoke, asparagus, avacadoe,Basil, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrot, cauliflower celery, cilantro, cocoanut, cumin,eggplant,Garlic, Ginger, green beans, grapefruit,etc
They may not be acidic also, so that you can get body pH levels alkaline by taking many above alkaline foods.
In particular we see in America vegetables are of huge or large sizes when compared the size we see in India..and neatly packed in polythene bags after cutting,peeling,washing,etc..
Mostly vegetables and fruits are received from neighboring countries...orange, apple, are largely grown in US also.
Okra, egg plant, etc..are some names...commonly heard.
It is a good experience to see such large number of vegetables fruits etc in USA and use them...Some of the rare vegetables like Avocado, brussels,etc are very good for health...which we do not get in plenty in India .We see them fresh and neatly packed and any vegetable spoiled and found unusable is thrown out and neither sold nor used by any.
In India also we grow and get a large number of vegetables, greens etc having medicinal properties and we should make use of them as remedy provided by nature or God for our health problems.
There are many herbal preparations as oil,lehyam,kashayam etc as medicines in Ayurveda using herbs and roots of plant used for medical treatment relating to brain or Central nervous system,. called.... Mental disorder/ illness, psychological disorders, psychiatric disorders,etc and these herbal medicines are found effective....
So nature is abundant with all human needs for existence and survival...
Cutting vegetables is an art or talent generally entrusted to the oldest lady in the house who takes care of choosing and cutting them so that the sides are neatly peeled, skin removed, internal seeds thrown out, pieces are made small in geometric sizes, washed again in water before using etc. and AMMA was given that work in addition to cooking, supervising and tasting the final products...
Glossary of Vegetables - Indian Names
English Name
Indian / Hindi Name
Ash Gourd
Petha
Aubergines
Baingan
Banana (raw)
Kela
Beetroot
Chukander
Bitter Gourd
Karela
Bottle Gourd
Lauki
Brinjal
Baingan
Broad Beans
Papdi / Vaal
Cabbage
Pattagobi
Capsicum
Simla Mirch
Carrot
Gajar
Cauliflower
Phoolgobi
Chilli (green)
Harimirch
Chilli (dry red)
Sukhi Lalmirch
Cluster Beans
Gavar
Coconut
Nariyal
Colocasia leaves
Patrel / Patra
Colocasia roots
Arbi
Coriander leaves
Hara Dhania
Corn
Makai
Cucumber
Kheera / Kakdi
Curry leaves
Kadi patta
Dill
Suva bhaji / Soye
Drumstick
Shingh phali
Eggplant
Baingan
French Beans
Fansi
Fenugreek leaves
Methi patta
Garlic
Lahsun
Gherkins
Thendli
Ginger
Adrak
Gooseberry
Amla
Green Bell Pepper
Simla Mirch
Green Mustard
Sarson ka saag
Green Peas
Matar
Green Onion
Hara Pyaz
Jackfruit (raw)
Kathal
Knolkol
Gathgobi
Lady Finger
Bhindi
Lemon
Nimbu
Lettuce leaves
Salad patta
Lotus Stem
Kamal Kakdi
Maize
Bhutta
Mango (raw)
Kaccha Aam / Keri
Mint
Pudina
Mushroom
Khumb / Guchhi
Okra
Bhindi
Onion
Pyaz
Plantain (raw)
Kela
Plantain flower
Kele ka phool
Plantain pith
Kele ka guda
Potato
Aloo / Batata
Pumpkin
Kaddu
Purple Yam
Surti Kand
Radish
Mooli
Ridge Gourd
Tori / Thurai
Snake Gourd
Chichinda / Padval
Spinach
Palak
Sweet Potato
Shakarkand / Ratalu
Tomato
Tamatar
Turnip
Shalgam
Yam
Sooran
During our last visit to USA between 2017 and 2018 we had visited a few places of importance in California State and a few of them are as under..
Los Angeles
Lake Tahoe bordering California and Nevada Mountains
Palm Springs
Santa Cruz
Yosemite National Park
Santa Barbara
San Diego
San Francisco
Fremont
San Jose
Santa Clara
Palo alto
Solvang Ca
Hearst San Simeon state Park
Hearst castle
California academy of sciences
Morro Bay state park
Paso Robles the wine country
Disney land Park,
Hollywood
And others….
So that was Babysitting this year and we hope to see more places in USA during next visits
