Being cooped up in quarantine puts a lot of pressure on parents, and makes it difficult for child care providers to lend a hand.

Many families are feeling stressed, and understandably so. We’re relying a bit more on the time-savers we might otherwise wince at. There’s lots more screen time, hasty quesadillas for dinner, and flexible rules on bath time. And that’s okay.

Still, it can be hard to shake a guilty feeling here. Will these days at home have long-term consequences for our children’s development and wellbeing? How can we best look after them right now?

To get some answers, I called up Neal Horen.

Neal is the Director of the Early Childhood Division at Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development in Washington, D.C. His background is in clinical psychology, and for the past 20 years he has specialized in mental health and emotional development during early childhood. Like many of us, he’s also figuring out how to work from home while caring for his own young children.

Last week, we connected for a conversation about how parents and child care providers can best support the little ones while we’re in quarantine.