Juggling conference calls and kids? Here's a parenting educator's advice on working from home

Keeping kids busy while working from home Dr. Vanessa Lapointe shares tips to help parents get their work done while keeping kids occupied.

VANCOUVER — Struggling to supervise your children while still getting some work done from home?

It's a challenge many parents are facing as they try to balance their careers and kids out of school, so CTV Morning Live asked a parenting educator for her advice.

Psychologist Vanessa Lapointe joined the show Monday morning and answered questions on how to keep kids busy and what to do about boredom.

How can parents stay grounded?

Lapointe said parents should resist the urge to entertain.

"Our kids actually really need and do best with a lot of wide-open time. Boredom is our best friend," she said.

Parents actually don't need to work so hard to keep their kids entertained, and should push back the urge to address entertainment needs.

Those "empty spaces" encourage kids to listen to their own minds and explore who they are, she said.

Creative vs. structured outlets

Regarding screen time, she said some is OK, "we just don't want them to be feasting on screens the entire time."

Lapointe said play is the way children express themselves, so parents should try to encourage creativity: "drawing, painting, inventing, building stuff."

She said these types of outlets may help kids express the kinds of things they can't put into words – especially at a time when they may feel the world is a scary place.

Keeping a schedule

Lapointe says humans thrive on having a routine, and draw feelings of safety and familiarity from that.

"Having the confines of a schedule will help life to flow better," she said.

But the schedule should have some grey zones for flexibility to meet the needs of the people in the home.

She also recommended scheduling some alone time for both parents and kids, to create the personal space for those who may need a break.

Watch the full interview above.