But I did breathe a sigh of relief when the closing ceremonies for the Olympics and Paralympics arrived and the endless questions – such as why are the rings different colours? What is doping? How heavy is a discus? Can you buy gold medals on EBay? – gradually faded away.

But my kiddies are still in the grips of the Olympics, dreaming of one day donning the green and gold and winning medals of Australia for something, anything.

Sporting activities in our household have taken on a much more serious dimension. Where once “just having fun” was good enough; now being the best is becoming an issue. Words such as “failure” and “loser” have crept into the games they play, as has the sudden appearance of tears when they don’t come first.

I always figured learning to lose is part of life and the art of losing gracefully is an important social skill. You can usually pick those adults who never acquired the knack. They are the ones pacing around the sports field yelling instructions to their kids, or berating umpires or coaches, or their own poor hapless child who doesn’t win.

But the truth is (and I am totally at fault here) many modern parents often tell their kids they are the best and can do anything they want to. We do it because we love them and want to instil that all important sense of self-worth and confidence that many of us who had a parent with a more boots-and-braces approach to parenting may not have received. But sometimes we can go a bit far and forget that the acceptance of limitations, and the acknowledgment that others may be better at something, is a crucial social skill.

Ultimately, the most important thing sport can teach kids is to be a better person. Not just through winning, but also through showing commitment, building resilience and being brave enough to just give something a bit of a go. And like all things, as parents, how we react, and what we model is what will ultimately determine not only how well our children win, but also how well they cope with the occasional inevitability of being on the losing side.