I am not sure that teaching ones kids to drive comes under ‘enjoyable parenting activities’. Firstly allowing ones child, that one has nurtured for 17 years, to get into a potential killing machine is a hard pill to swallow however under the instruction of a qualified instructor in a car with dual controls is one thing but with an unqualified parent (no exams to test whether you are a suitable candidate to be a parent let alone a driving instructor) in a car with the only dual control being the handbrake or grabbing the steering wheel is quite another. At £25 per hour for instruction it is advisable to give your child as much practise as possible to save money, everyone says, and if you have sons then the insurance is probably going to be more than the cost of a car so donning the driving instructor hat is inevitable. With the hat should come a prescription for Valium and a hip flask – can one be breathalysed when sitting in the passenger seat albeit as a driving supervisor?

I have to admit that I never took eldest daughter out as she selected husband to be her driving partner however this was a short lived role as, at the first roundabout, with no check in speed, and turning sharp right so, clearly unaware that it was a roundabout, husband baled and decided she should only have qualified instructors to accompany her on trips. So far she has had more lessons than the other 3 combined so we have decided this may not be an activity for her and she should concentrate on finding a rich husband with a chauffeur.