Tolmeia Gregory

Your 👏 baby 👏 doesn’t 👏 need 👏 new 👏 clothes! Here to prove your child can be a style icon without harming the planet. Swipe to the final slide for my top tips on buying for your baby, from ignoring gender filters to watching out for toxic materials. Personally, I only look for natural fabrics and typically don’t pay attention to brands unless they’re the big, bad, ugly ones. I’ve dramatically reduced the amount of synthetics (polyester, acrylic etc) in my wardrobe and the same should go for my baby. Your baby won’t care if their clothes are new but they will care that you don’t support fast fashion. #babyclothes #babyfashion #vinted #parenting #thrifting

❤️‍🩹 As I sit with the heaviness of the recent deadly heatwave that hit Europe, I’m grappling with the fact that the grief I feel isn’t something I need to share with my baby as they grow up. The truth is - we are past the point of returning to what we knew as normal and our children will now know this version of the world; the hotter, stormier, more unstable version. I see this as separate to formal climate education - something we desperately need more of - but as something we pay attention to in our own lives as we build a relationship between our child and the earth. Now more than ever, what our children learn about the world must reflect what makes it worth protecting, not just what we’re protecting it from, as we grieve a version of the world we’ll never get back. #parenting #heatwave #childhood #motherhood

As I sit here in 35°c degree heat, receiving messages from my brother in Paris who is hearing non-stop ambulance sirens in his neighbourhood as France reaches the hottest temperatures ever recorded, with numerous lives lost, I have to dig deep to trust the decision I’ve made and the beliefs that I’ve been sharing with others. My baby is only a couple of months old, and they’ve already experienced temperatures that my childhood never saw. I never remember having to sleep downstairs in the living room because my bedroom was too hot. I never remember my parents putting tinfoil on the windows. My room never lit up red, warning that I could overheat. As I gaze down at my baby’s perfect features, oblivious to what’s happening all around them, I have to admit that the thought does cross my mind - what have I done? But ‘what have I done’ is the wrong question. What have *they* done? The oil and gas industry hellbent on increasing profits at the expense of us all, despite the fact they’re dragging themselves into it too. What have the ad agencies and the media done by continuing to uphold the image of these companies, maintaining their right to exist in people’s minds? And no, really, what have the Temu’s and the Shein’s and the bargain homeware stores done by producing endless, toxic, cheap, unnecessary products like the highland cow holding a cocktail glass that someone will buy without a thought. We are so far removed from nature, it is laughable. So, what have *I* done? I’ve leant into my human desire to experience something that should be magical and full of joy. I see it when my baby smiles at me, in their eyes as blue as the warming oceans. I have done nothing wrong and neither have you, fellow parents, sat sticky, chest-to-chest with your baby who knows nothing but the comfort of your heartbeat - and now, the white noise of a fan. The only way we will do wrong by our children will be if we don’t act on their behalf. If we don’t honour this grief and this anger. If we don’t have the uncomfortable conversations. If we don’t show up and stop putting that worthless, plastic tat into our shopping baskets. Only then will I ask myself, what have I done?

🤔 Why is it okay to think this way when we’d never think it about someone else!? Part 5 is an ode to the children and parents already in my life who deserve to exist even if the future is uncertain ❤️‍🩹 Have you had these thoughts before? #parenthood #children #motherhood #pregnancy #heatwave

Outfit of the heatwave, brought to you by… 🙃 Thanks to my team at @clean_creatives for the gift x #heatwave #uk #summer

👩‍🍼🌿 Slide 3 is something I’ll never get over and a lesson that we could all do with learning, whether you’re a parent or not. I’m sure the list of lessons I learn will continue to grow everyday as my baby grows along with me but here are just a few ways that parenthood is helping me to approach our forever changing world - something I feel acutely aware of as we navigate keeping a newborn cool during the UK heatwave. 🌎 #parenting #motherhood #newmum

I keep seeing reminders about holding onto moments in life that our past-selves would have only dreamed of. Thanks to you, my past self would be pretty happy to know her dreams came true of starting a family with someone she was incredibly lucky to meet. Happy first Father’s Day to my parent-in-crime, @theoriginaljake 💙

☄️ Has the girl with the list added that it’s the end of the world? Here’s how I decided that it’s not too late to have a child - part 4 on my version of the list; the things that helped me to say yes to having a baby despite the state of the world. 🎦 The documentary I mentioned is The Climate Baby Dilemma by Britt Wray @unthinkable.earth which featured an interview with @sarainfox - I highly recommend seeking out this film. It won’t give you an answer to such a big question but it will help to shed light on some of the common anxieties aspiring parents often have. #parenting #motherhood #parents #pregnancy Who else has had this fear?