OLYMPIC fever officially hit Worcester last week.

Yes, there were glitches (torch was running late on Thursday but early on Friday) but I still defy anyone not to have been swept up in the moment.

The crowds collecting on Worcester Bridge, the flag waving, the beeping horns.

Then there was the excitement and pride on the faces of the torchbearers, great to see as among them were many people who have already had to battle more than their fair share of adversity.

I could have been totally carried away by it all.

Fortunately, though, I was watching it with a three-year-old.

And, let’s face it, that is more than enough to keep your feet on the ground.

It started well enough. We walked down The Tything to find a good spot on the roadside to camp out.

“Look at all the London flags,” he said jumping up and down excitedly. Then police on motorbikes honked their horns and he nearly exploded with joy.

It was actually my husband who started moaning first. Apparently the spot I’d picked was too close to a drain.

There was quite a bit of waiting which had the potential to be an issue but fortunately my boy found ways to entertain himself.

Like insisting on running into the road at every opportunity, scuffing the ends of his shoes in the gaps in the drain and accidentally poking people walking past with his flag.

Eventually the torch came – and went.

“What did you think?” I asked.

“I thought it was going to be huge,” he replied with mild disappointment in his voice.

Then followed it up with a disdainful, “What is Olympics?”

I tried to explain but he just said his legs were tired.

And insisted on being carried all the way back to where we’d parked at Worcester Racecourse in the sweltering heat.

On the way home he had a request.

“I want an Olympic torch. Can you make one and leave it by my bed for when I wake up?”

Sadly, I had to return to the office to help put together our Olympic Flame coverage so it fell to Daddy to spend the evening gluing bits of orange paper together.

It worked. Our boy now thinks seeing the torch – whether it was huge or not – was the best thing that has ever happened to him.