A bored child is not a parenting failure. Teach them to shrug off the learned helplessness of boredom | Myke Bartlett

Like any parent, I am easily victim to the emotional blackmail of a young child at a loose end. But maybe we should be easier on ourselves these school holidays

• Sharing the Load is a column about parenting children of all ages
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Somewhere in week two of the previous school holidays, our nine-year-old wandered downstairs, looking for something or anything to do and frowned over my shoulder at the laptop screen.

I don't really understand what you do, but it looks very boring."