15 Things To Know About City Parenting In Cairo
sarah - mum
fatima 10
hamza 8
Cairo, Egypt
5 things I love about being a parent in Cairo
Culture and history - of course!! It is Cairo! You can take the kids anytime to visit museums, the pyramids, Coptic & Islamic sites, the pyramids!! You will always find somewhere to go that is related to culture and history
Family bonds - Parenting in Cairo involves lots of family bonding, weekly family visits usually over food… your family is a real support system and I think this is really important for the kids.
Family-friendly places to hang out - Lots of family friendly restaurants, with playing areas for the kids. Even Cafes you can easily hang out with your friends while your kids are having the best time playing or even doing arts and crafts and activities. Also almost every family is a member in a “sporting Club” which is a big place for kids to play and do sports and for parents to hang out.
Spirituality - Lots of mosques and churches, Cairo is very spiritual, most of people share a unified everyday dialogue that involves God and faith, for example if you ask anybody in the street: “How is it going! He will instantly reply: Praising God!” Al hamdulelah “ .. It is very spontaneous.
Also Muslims coexist with Christians in harmony which I think is a good experience for the kids
Learning languages - you live in Cairo means you are definitely going to learn to speak English at a very young age (besides your native Arabic) and there is also a high possibility you speak French! Well yes parenting in Cairo is all about what will my child learn next! And language is a big thing most children are easily bilingual
4 places i love taking your kids to in cairo
Kidzania - A city for kids where they practice different jobs - they can pretend to be a reporter, builder, doctor, policemen... you name it! It is fun and educating.
Family park: there are very few public parks, but they are a great place to hang out.
Billy bees - indoors playing area in the Mall where this kids enjoy playing
HSC sporting club - all what the kids need do in one place: outdoor playgrounds, pools, library.. totally safe
3 things I dislike about being a parent in Cairo
Consumer society - Kids indirectly learn how to consume and spend. Cairo lack so much of the free educative social events you may find in other cities, to have fun you definitely will spend lots of money.. and kids kind of become used to this concept of buying and spending instead of collaborating and enjoying the simple.
Schools are so expensive!!! - No good public schools, so parents in Cairo live and work just to pay for their children’s school.
Very few public parks - To enjoy nature you must get away of Cairo, you may need more than an hour... you can’t really walk in the streets unless you live in a fancy compound. The sporting club is the easiest solution for parents and although it has some gardens it is not really the “nature” experience you want your kids to have.
2 of my favorite food places
Abu el Seed the place I love to go for original Egyptian cuisine
Al Shabrawy - a very famous chain for traditional Egyptian breakfast of Falafel and Foul (fava beans). Fava beans for Egyptians is like pasta for Italians!!
1 item I cannot live without
A car!!! You can not count on public transportation in Cairo, it is not convenient for the kids. Too crowded and just... impossible
the traffic in cairo is insane!