Aasma Day: Supermum and Superdad to the rescue

from the moment you become a parent, you realise you possess certain magical powers.

Nothing beats that enchanting thrill you get when your baby instantly stops crying when you cuddle them.

There are lots of other “powers” you suddenly discover – such as the ability to function on pitiful amounts of sleep, or learning how to do an extraordinary number of things one-handed.

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You also unearth new-found psychic skills as you spot potential hazards lurking waiting to injure your energetic and curious toddler.

Supersonic hearing is another talent as you can hear crying or sibling arguing from the other side of the house.

When they’re very young, your children view you as some kind of superhero and have the utmost faith (often misplaced) that you can fix everything and make the world better.

Now my twins are almost teenagers, they don’t quite view me with the same wonder and hero worship they once did... but they do seem to think I have superpowers to rival all the characters in a Marvel comic.

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The art of being able to magically conjure myself into different locations as a Parent Taxi Service without having to circumvent traffic would be extremely helpful.

Being able to fly like a superhero would certainly be a handy skill to have – or at least access to something that can fly at the speed of Concorde.Replying to telephone calls and texts also seems to require an immediate response.

Many a time I’ve been berated by my children for not answering my mobile straight away when they called. “But I was on my office phone interviewing someone,” I’ve protested or, “I was driving home and my phone was in my handbag.”

However, you can bet your last penny any time you need to get hold of them, you’ll be worried sick when they don’t pick up your calls or respond to your texts only for them to tell you later on: “Oh, I left my phone on silent” or “My phone ran out of charge.”

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“Cookery-gate” has been the most recent battle in our household as our daughter keeps presenting us with a list of ingredients she needs for her school cooking lesson the night before she needs them necessitating a mad dash to the shops.

After giving her a stern lecture on making sure she tells us about any ingredients she needs with plenty of notice, she forgot once again and sheepishly sent me a text just as I was leaving after a long and hectic day at work.

Tutting and muttering under my breath, I went to the shops because that’s what you do as a parent .

My first thought while scanning the ingredients which included fresh basil leaves and Mozzarella cheese was: “How posh has school cookery got?”

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The following day, my heart sank as I was preparing to leave work and my mobile rang indicating a call from my daughter.

“You know that quiche that I made in cookery today...” she began. “Well I’ve just been walking home and the bag ripped and my quiche has just splatted all over the place.”

Resurrecting a squashed and sorrowful quiche from the pavement was something even beyond the powers of Supermum.