Fagnoon and napping: a busy Saturday in Cairo

We went to Fagnoon this morning. It is an art school for children of all ages, it’s on the other side of the Nile towards the Sakkara pyramid (you can see the pyramid from Fagnoon), and it offers all kinds of activities; pottery, wood carving, painting, tapestry making, silk screening – you name it. A group of high school kids were playing in a giant mud bath. Both boys did pottery and wood carving. While August kept asking to go wash his hands, William enjoyed the pottery making so much he came first and left way after all the other children. The wood carving was a bit too difficult for him, and it was a great trial for me, because the tools were really sharp. I kept imagining the boys slipping and cutting themselves. Older kids had trouble too, but August, surprising everyone, was a natural and carved out his name perfectly. I tried helping William and did much worse than August. After their two activities they played on the playground. We probably should have done one or two more things, but they had so much fun just running and climbing, that I didn’t want to interrupt; we will definitely come back to Fagnoon, and they can do the tapestry and silk screening next time.

After we got back home, I did something I haven’t done since the week William was born. I sat down starting to work, and I felt so tired, I simply had to lie down and take a nap. (Again, my body took over!) Courtney started at me, in shock, and asked me, sincerely, if I was all right. I think he thinks I’m made of steel; I get up every morning no matter what, I never nap, I take care of all our laundry, housework, cleaning and most cooking without ever complaining, I homeschool our kids while working under a 17 days/month contract, I organize our social life, our trips, in fact all our family’s schedule, and I keep in touch with friends and family. “You’re napping? That is so out of character of you.” he remarked with a concerned look on his face, and as I walked up the stairs, I heard him whisk off the kids to friends to get the house quiet. A while later, he came up to let me know he was taking William to taekwondo. It was the first time ever I didn’t have to initiate this. Usually when I ask him to take the boys to their activities, I still always have to get their clothes and water ready, and tell them when it’s time to leave. It’s nice to know that he can step up when needed.