As an au pair, I’ve surprisingly had very little quality time with my kids. I’m there to tell them to do their homework, brush their teeth, and go to bed, and the weeks are jam-packed with after school dancing, swimming, and gymnastics. By the time the weekend comes, all I want is some peace and quiet and time to hang out with some people my own age. Tea often tells me how “unfun” I am because I’m never around on the weekends – but this one, I finally had the kids all to myself. With my host parents on holiday, I spent the whole weekend “working,” but I could not have had more fun with the kids.

As a special treat, we went to Kingston Park Raceway to ride go-karts this morning. I had expected to just sit and watch Christian and Tea ride around the track a couple times and then go home, but we ended up at the raceway for hours, and I felt like the biggest kid of all. When we walked up to the ticket window, Tea asked me, “What does that say, Liz?” as she pointed to the banner above us. She’s learning to read and is constantly curious about every sign we pass. I read her the banner: “It’s a hell of a day!” She didn’t react to it much, and we set out to the raceway.

We watched Christian tear up his track, and then Tea and I headed to the Kids’ Zone for the kiddie track. I hadn’t ridden go-karts in ages, and even though I had to be Tea’s chauffeur because she’s only 6 and isn’t big enough to drive, I had a blast. On a tiny track filled with kids under 10, I was speeding our kart around the bends and got in trouble for “bumping.” I couldn’t help it. It was just too much fun. We spent the day on the racetrack, playing arcade games, and eating dagwood dogs and chips (otherwise known as corn dogs and fries).

At the end of the day, Tea had enough points to go on one of the rides in the amusement park section. She and I hopped onto Gee Whiz, Australia’s version of Disney’s teacups. I was way more excited than Tea, who is normally very timid when it comes to rides. As we started to spin, I looked over at her face and saw a look of sheer terror in her eyes. She was gripping the handlebar so tight that her knuckles were white, and she was screaming bloody murder. I was so nervous she was going to freak out or throw up on me, or both. Instead, she suddenly yelled out, “Liz, this is a hell of a day, isn’t it?!” and we both busted out laughing. It was so great to be a kid again.

At home, we made breakfast for dinner – homemade pancakes, eggs, and milkshakes – and cuddled on the couch, watching “Where the Wild Things Are.” As I tucked the kids into bed, they couldn’t stop telling me how much they loved me and how much fun they’d had. It warmed my heart. Tea was certainly right – it was a hell of a day.