How often do you ask yourself "what's the point"? Those arduous tasks and efforts to do what we think is best for our kids - no shoes in the house, 45 minutes at the table to make sure they eat their veg, that extra story before bedtime. Do these things really make a difference? The kids hardly seem to notice sometimes, and certainly no one else is thanking you for them.

This week, my gran got a pretty major award for "five decades service" in her career. It wasn't for one single act or achievement, but for quietly chipping away at her life's work day in and day out. It was a really proud moment for my family. And it really inspired me to work harder at the daily things - things that feel unseen, routine, and where there's no clear reward or short-term gratification. Each of those acts adds up to a finished product - a child who is (hopefully) that bit more responsible, thoughtful, caring of people.

We might not notice the difference in the short run, but day by day, mealtime by mealtime, these things add up. They're apparently thankless things that nevertheless shape our kids for the better. So relish the routine, marinate in the mundane, champion the chipping away... you get the idea.

This week: how exactly kids' skin is different to grownups'; a gorgeous home and crafts instagram account to follow; Christmas workshops in Hackney Wick; how old is your baby?

- Shreya

Christmas craft workshops

Hackney Bridge, the home of GRASP HQ near the Olympic Park, is hosting craft workshops for kids, starting in the first week of December. Check them out, along with other events like pub quizzes, winter markets, and vintage kilo sales.

Insta inspo for festive photos

I've spent the week swooning over @small_flowers_seam on Instagram. It's all in German, and I speak no German, but it's just full of so much design, baking, crafts and more inspiration, all with a whimsical fairytale sort of aesthetic. The DIYs in the Story Highlights are easy to follow (even for non-German speakers!). My favourite is this huggable-looking fluffy cloud lantern.

Get the skinny on kids' skin

Over on the GRASP blog, we've made a simple explainer of the real differences between kids' and grownups' skin. Understanding this helps me buy better products for them and ignore lots of marketing jargon, and caring for kids' skin better might even help you take care of yours more! 

Gift guides are a go

Christmas gift guides are cropping up left, right, and centre, and Scandiborn's is a good place to start. The products are all quite luxe, and may not suit all budgets, but it's a good place to go to spark your imagination. Plus, it's presented as an e-magazine - you can almost hear the swoosh of pages turning.

And finally... how old is your baby?

We've all seen those cute pics of babies passed out next to a card saying "I'm ONE MONTH old today". Adorable. Serene. And also, it turns out, sometimes WRONG. A lot of people go by the equation 4 weeks = a month. So by 6 months you could be out by a week or 2. For the more fastidious of you, maybe that's not a problem, but this website will make sure you're the annoying parent that always has the most accurate age of your child whenever someone asks - right down to the second.