When Your Child Gets Left Out: Friendship Struggles and Social Pain

Wednesday, October 28th at 11:30 am Pacific

Your child comes home and says:

“Nobody wants to play with me.”

Or maybe they weren't invited.

They've been left out of the group chat.

A friend suddenly isn't acting like a friend.

They're dealing with a “frenemy.”

And as a parent, your first instinct may be to fix it.

Call the other parent.

Message the teacher.

Tell your child what they should have said.

Or try to convince them not to care.

But sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is listen first.

You can't prevent every friendship struggle or social hurt. But you can help your child learn how to navigate difficult relationships, recover from rejection, and build stronger friendships.

In this week's Lunch & Learn, we'll talk about:

• Listening before fixing: How to support your child without immediately jumping into problem-solving mode.

• Friendship skills can be taught: Helping kids learn communication, conflict resolution, perspective-taking, and other social skills.

• When to step in—and when to stay out: How to know when your child needs coaching versus when an adult needs to intervene.

• Group chats, exclusion, and “frenemies”: Navigating the complicated social world kids face today.

• Building resilience after rejection: Helping your child recover when a friendship doesn't work out the way they hoped.

Your child's social struggles don't mean you've failed as a parent.

Friendships can be complicated.

Kids are still learning how to communicate, include others, handle conflict, set boundaries, and figure out who they want to spend time with.

And sometimes, despite our best efforts, our kids will get hurt.

Our job isn't to make sure they never experience rejection.

It's to help them learn:

“I can handle this. I can learn from it. And I can find people who appreciate me for who I am.”

📅 Wednesday, October 28th

🕚 11:30 AM Pacific

🎥 FREE Live Lunch & Learn