Every time the Olympic Games roll around, whether it’s the summer or winter version, I get quite absorbed in them, as does our entire household. This was illustrated today when, during a lull at work, I called home to check if my two kids were finding things to do with their babysitter. My nine-year-old daughter answered and immediately blurted "Daddy, we're having our own Olympics. I got a silver and a gold!"

Later, when I got home, I received a full report on the home-grown Olympic competition. The kids had competed in eight events: running, gymnastics, dancing, swinging, trampoline, hurdles, soccer and stuffy hugging. The nine-year-old, who is three years older than her brother, was filled with swagger because she’d cleaned up: six gold and two silver. The younger one refused to speak to the media or have his picture taken because he only won two gold (in gymnastics and stuffy hugging) and six silver. (The babysitter was the official judge and timekeeper).

For those of you who are unaware, stuffy hugging is a relatively new sport – competitors hug as many toy stuffed animals as they can in 10 seconds. The kids gave me a short demonstration of this event and I and can avow that it is indeed a sport – when the starter’s pistol sounds (or someone yells go), the competition area is instantly filled with grunting, trash talk and airborne stuffies.