Spare a thought for our three Paralympians doing their best to compete despite the conflict between Russia and Ukraine over Crimea, and in spite of the weather which fluctuates between balmy spring weather, fog and rain.
On top of that, Paralympians have to deal with being the poor cousins of the Olympic movement as athletes and as an event.
Continuing with the family analogy, as athletes they can be compared to distant relations a bride and groom feel obliged to invite.
They weren't invited to the main wedding ceremony or dinner, but made it on to the invitation list for the late-night-drinks part of the wedding reception - a time when most of the guests have gone home, and those who still have the stamina to hang in there are only doing so because they're in a drunken or bored stupor.
Paralympians struggle to get any of the limelight, and their time to shine is often in the shadow of the Olympics that precede them.
Winter Paralympians have it even worse.
Everyone likes attending a summer wedding but very few are committed enough to attend a winter wedding.
So when we combine political unrest with unsettled weather patterns and the poor-cousin status as athletes and as an event, it is no wonder that we hear or see very little of our Paralympic athletes, Corey Peters, Carl Murphy and Adam Hall. A positive about the Olympic and Paralympic events being hosted by Russia is that it has definitely created a focal point for those critical of Russia's leadership, human rights record, and military strategies.
The Olympics provided an opportunity for human rights advocates to jump up and down regarding Russia's homophobic legislation and culture.
In the end, very little rocking of the boat occurred, and the Winter Olympics continued without much drama.
Perhaps Putin was hoping for more global attention as a result of the Winter Olympics, and so he upped the stakes by employing Russian intimidation tactics in Kiev to coincide with the Winter Paralympics.
There are arguments for and against Russia's motives and tactics in Crimea which are beyond the scope of this article, but the reaction to those tactics has had a much greater impact globally than that caused by anti-homosexual legislation in Russia.
Of course the threat of war is going to get far more media and political attention, and politicians, heads of state, dignitaries and officials from the likes of the United States, Britain, Poland, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway and Austria reacted by boycotting the Paralympic event.
Other nations such as Australia, Spain, Turkey, Greece and New Zealand had no intention of sending government officials prior to the conflict coming to a head.
I can't help but feel for the Paralympians on an individual basis.
Here was their moment to shine and that moment is lost in the literal and figurative fog surrounding Sochi.
Then again, they're used to overcoming discrimination and a world that tends not to acknowledge their endeavours.
Ukrainian biathlete and cross-country skier Mykhaylo Tkachenko got some acknowledgement, however, for his (and his nation's) political statement as the lone Ukrainian athlete to attend the opening ceremony.
They were hoping this would send a strong message to Putin who was in attendance. Nothing, however, seems to ruffle the feathers of Putin, a president who stages photo opportunities of himself shirtless, hunting and riding horseback in the brutally cold Russian climate.
If the act of Tkachenko was lost on Putin, it didn't fail to send a strong message to the world that like the Paralympics, the stand-off between Ukraine and Russia has only just begun.
Meanwhile, our Kiwi battlers, continue to persevere in less than ideal conditions where war and whimsical weather loom on the horizon.
