> it takes a surprisingly small number of emotionally stable adults to help kids get through chaotic circumstances
The "surprising" modifier here makes the object something that needs extra context, what's surprising here is that the number is small and not large. If bio mom and bio dad and foster mom and foster dad and all the extended family and most of their teachers are distant, but their track coach is emotionally invested (thanks, Buzz), that's, surprisingly, sometimes all that it takes.
Yes, if no one's invested, that's not enough, as you'd expect. It does leave the possibility that everyone is invested and it's still not enough.
The "surprising" modifier here makes the object something that needs extra context, what's surprising here is that the number is small and not large. If bio mom and bio dad and foster mom and foster dad and all the extended family and most of their teachers are distant, but their track coach is emotionally invested (thanks, Buzz), that's, surprisingly, sometimes all that it takes.
Yes, if no one's invested, that's not enough, as you'd expect. It does leave the possibility that everyone is invested and it's still not enough.