Weekly roundup 30: New kids on the block

Hello and sorry that this week's email reaches you a little late! Things have been getting b-i-zz-ee and a flurry of new subscribers have joined us, including some that came our way from a possibly semi-viral TikTok 👀: to all of you, welcome!

I thought it's a good time to (re-)introduce myself, and share GRASP's story a little bit.

I'm Shreya, one half of the team behind GRASP - the other being Brook. The two of us met at uni and got married soon after. We became parents almost 4 years ago (has it been that long?!). Before we'd even left the hospital, it was clear that the world of parenting is a LOT!

It's also seemed that the raising of kids and the looking after of kids were often two different things - teaching them to do stuff, but also doing a ton for them. But why were these so often separate? There was a lot to learn, and fast! 

1 pandemic and 2 babies later, we started GRASP to try and put the confidence back in parenting by creating tools that get kids to start doing things for themselves from the get go. More on this here 😉

In the summer of last year, as we welcomed baby no. 3, Brook got cracking. Now my maternity leave has come to an end, I'm rolling my sleeves up too. It's been an exciting few months, and we launched our first product at the beginning of April, the gorgeous Heads Up tummy time playmat. We're also excitedly awaiting the arrival of THREE new products into our warehouse, which you can see here.

One thing about us, we're very much an open book. I'll often ask you for your opinion in these emails, because we want what we do to be about what actually works for families of all kinds. In our SUDS blog, we write about all kinds of things - bath time tips, people that inspire us, thoughts on tough questions about raising kids. Below are a few you might like. Join the conversation, and happy reading! 

- Shreya

A look at the grown ups who make the village our children are raised in

They say it takes a village to raise a child. All the big and small inputs different grown ups have in a child’s life - from grandparents to playgroup leaders to the lady at the checkout - shape how kids grow up to see the world. Who makes up this village is different from family to family, and even child to child. What the people in this ‘village’ offer and model to the kids in their lives is more diverse still. The Village People series shines a light on the different kinds of people that make up the villages around us! Each person in this series shares a little nugget of wisdom about what they try and bring to the table with the kids in their life.

Know someone who would have a great take on this, or want to share your own unique perspective? Reply to this email and let us know!

Getting up on our soap box

Truth: kids are delightful. Also truth: being around them and doing right by them is really hard sometimes. We - as parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, caregivers - we all do things differently, and have different values. This is a really good thing! We also might occasionally change our minds on how we do things and what values we hold dear. In the Soapbox series, Brook and I wrestle with these sorts of topics. It's our way of being able to start frank and honest conversations about tricky things, and hopefully try to show that 'family values' are a work in progress!

Gorgeous family products and wonderful founders

GRASP has been going about 7 months now - and it's been a whirlwind! Every product design, feedback opportunity and insta reel is so much fun, and we're kind of obsessed! But to avoid getting tunnel vision, it's also really fun to look around and draw inspiration from people already making the lives of kids and families better. Our Spotlight series takes a look at some amazing brands and founders whose products, values, and way of doing things we just love.

And now for something a little different: sporcle still exists

Picture this: it's 2011. JLS are still in the charts. You've been doing something on your laptop before heading to the pub. You're about to shut it but you have a spare 20 minutes. The only question is what quiz will you do? I used to be able to name all 50 US states in about 5 minutes. Now I can't spell Pennsylvania.