Hi {{ first_name }},

You know what I've noticed? 

Some of the hardest things children carry are the things nobody sees.

Not the scraped knee or the bad grade,

but the quiet feeling that no one is really listening.

This week, another school shooting broke my heart.

Four families are living with an empty chair at the table.

And I keep thinking about the boy who did it, too.

He was a child once. Someone held him as a baby.

I’m not an expert. I’m a mother of four and a grandmother.

But I’ve lived long enough to see that when a child feels invisible, that hurt doesn’t just go away. It waits.

Not long ago, I took five of my grandchildren to dinner.

We went around the table, and each of us told one person what we love most about them.

We laughed. A few of us got teary.

And the couple at the next table stopped us on the way out to say how moved they were.

That’s what being seen looks like.

And it can start at your table tonight.

I talk more about this in my latest video, The Psychology of a Child Who Feels Ignored, along with five simple things we can all do at home. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch.

The Psychology of a Child Who Feels Ignored

If you’d like a gentle way to keep these conversations going, the 8 Life Ingredients are something you can start at home, one story and one small practice at a time.

Explore the 8 Life Ingredients here

We can’t protect children from every hurt.

But we can make sure they never feel alone with it.

And we can start by really seeing them.

Be well,

Deb “Shanti” Kelly Grandma on a Mission | Founder of Life Ingredients Helping children learn how to manage life—and live it well. ❤️