Cashion’s Mom

11/26/2023

The Cashion’s Mom page has reached 100 followers this week! 🙏🤗🎉 Tiktok has 165 followers and Instagram has 93! My personal page has 1400 followers??! 🤯 Thanks to all that keep up with us! I’m planning to be more present with updates and inspiration in 2024😊Kathleen Swain

08/11/2023

🙋‍♀️Question: How many special needs children have you seen in your lifetime? And take for instance, running errands.. how many have you seen?

…because the odds say one in NINE!🤯

🤔 So …what is their life like?

Buckle up. I saved you a seat.

If you are new here… Hi, I’m Cashion’s mom!

I was a NICU baby (25w) in the 80s during the AIDS pandemic, I became a NICU nurse (best job ever), and became a mother myself to a 1 pound (29w) preemie that survived 6.5 months in the NICU during the 2020 Covid pandemic…

Fast forward to today, im in a mission to help other parents navigate life and “all the things”.

I learned the hard way, that this life is extremely isolating and scary as a mother. In the first years, I knew only one other mom with a medically fragile baby, and she was my village. Fast forward to 2023, and the village is still small.. I have only a few special needs moms I follow (fan girl over) and if not for them, Cashion would not be where he is today.

And MAN what I would have GIVEN to have known them sooner, or have a place i could have went for answers and guidance in the first years. Okay, let’s be honest, I’m still looking for guidance and answers! The learning curve is STEEEEEEP!!

And so, the vlog series begins. A deep-dive into what several parents experience in the NICU (and life).

Got a baby on a ventilator? I got chu!

Baby needs therapy? This mama is here for you!

My plan is to break down developmental goals in order, share what I wish I knew, what I know now, and what the experts say.

My mission is to share our life, and CLIFF NOTE what I know as a NICU nurse and what I have learned as a special needs mom.

Everything I wish I knew.
- For the mama that is new here.
- For the mama that isn’t.
- For her family.
- For her friends.
- For her baby.
- For everyone.

Our story is one-in-a-million, but this life is one in nine, and this series is for you.

If I only reach one family, it will be worth the trauma I went through myself. I have to believe this is all a part of Gods perfect plan. [So that HIS works may inspire you.]
-2 chorinthians 1: 3-4.

01/08/2023

2 years ago, Cashion had a sudden vision loss with a horizontal nystagmus. I was worried it was some form of complex seizure but I was even more worried because it didn’t seem like he could see us or find us anymore.

we saw Cashions Opthalmologist and were told to put him in a pitch black room, show him a light up toy, and see if he could see that- and Cashion couldn’t.

We were told, “Cashion has a brain injury, so anything is a possibility, even vision loss out of nowhere”

We worked so hard with high contrast play, vision therapy with the incredible Karen Waller Hill through Soonerstart. I called the little lighthouse in Tulsa and spoke with their vision therapist there- who graciously FaceTimed to meet Cashion. I called the school for the blind in Oklahoma. I called other ophthalmologists. And our family and friends prayed, we prayed a lot.

One year later, Cashion could see 2 feet in front of him.

A few months ago- Cashions vision showed that it is continuing to improve. Our doctor said he feels Cashion is a one in a million baby, and told us to keep doing what we are doing.

Today, Cashion experienced the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in OKC. The first photo is of the first projection that we saw in the exhibit. His face is priceless. God is so faithful to us. He loves us deeply. He hears us. He knows the desires of our hearts. Keep the faith and trust in Him, he will never leave you.

Miracles happen every day, and if you don’t believe in God, then here’s your proof.

01/01/2023

WWW.CASHIONSMOM.COM/SHOP

Parents:

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed and caught up on where your child is on the developmental curve? Anxiously waiting for the next milestone that needs to be met? not sure what to do? it’s an awful feeling. There’s a better way.

I’m here to help you meet your child where they’re at, goals BIG and SMALL!

Milestones are like exams, every kid learns to pass them in their own way and on their own time. Preparing every child the same way just because it works for a few others doesn’t make sense. Every child is different.

As a mother of a son with global developmental delays and medical complexities, I often think to myself that there MUST be a better way. My son is two cognitively, he can sign a few basic needs and identify his farm animals, but he is at the 12-month level developmentally from a gross and fine motor standpoint- it’s confusing to everyone when it’s said that way.

It’s hard to find toys that work for us, its hard for others to get gifts for us, books are hard to find, and it’s always hours of shopping around… I spent months trying to find a typical child development pathway that would work for my son. I wish I had a cheat sheet. I wish I could find things easier.

I couldn’t find a solution anywhere, so I created one.

Cashionsmom.com/shop

The place to shop by ABILITY. Shop what parents love. Shop what special needs children love. Shop what the experts recommend. All in one place!

Shopping by ability bypasses the stress and confusion on milestones, and focuses on each individual child’s ability. No stress. No frustration. Only solutions.

They’ll be toys for the snuggle buggle, the tummy timer, the roller, the swiper, the rocker, the crawler, the hair puller (that’s where Cashion is at), the flight risk, and EVERY incredible achievement INBETWEEN.

🌟 Invaluable for special needs children, children with global delays, and children with medical complexities/fragility.

🌟 Helpful for ALL families, too! Especially new parents.

Set the starting line where they’re at, and celebrate every moment! Cashion’s Mom is Inspiring JOY as we enter 2023, the year of individuality, the year our child REACHES (pun intended if you know, you know) their GOALS⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cashion’s goal is to REACH with his right arm, grasp, and bring to mouth this year!

What is your child’s goal?

SHOP COMING SOON!!

Empowering Special Needs Families, One Inspirational Blog at a Time.

01/01/2023

Happy NEW YEAR! We are up to 112 followers, so amazing!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read the pilot blog. May it bring you new motivation and inspiration as we start 2023!

For January and in the spirit of the New Year, goal setting is a MUST. With this in mind, our goal is for every special needs child to achieve success this year and reach their goals! 🙌

How can we do this, you ask? Every child is so different, you say? Well it’s simple. We will meet EACH child where they are at. ⭐️ 💯

I would love to take credit for this goal idea, but this is a thorn in the side of all special needs parents and children. I’m preaching to the choir with the wasted time away from our kids when I say that just hunting to find guidance or recommendations that will actually work for our kids is exhausting and so very isolating.

Ever wish you could just press a button and everything you could possibly need to consider to help your child reach their goal was right in front of you? I’m thinking toys with and therapeutic activities to use them for from my personal experience, what special needs parents say about them, the expert input, all of it together in one place.

⭐️ There would be no more hunting through pages and pages of google search terms which is always such a joy, let me tell ya. 😒

⭐️ There would be no more excessive purchases of multiple books and toys, im sure all of our wallets would thank us for that. More to spend to treat-yo-self! 💅 Because who know the last time you got yourself a manicure.

⭐️ There would be no more disappointment because what came in the mail didn’t end up to be a great fit 😔 and now after all those hours searching you’re back at square one again. 😩😭

⭐️ There would be no more gifts that look fun or seem nice, but your child isn’t ready for them yet so you end up with mountains of books and toys that go unused for forever because you’re ✨ sentimental ✨.

⭐️ Ugh, no more being frustrated followed by feeling like you could have done more!! Okay to be fair, this one thing every parent feels at times, but I can almost guarantee that this would occur MUCH less often! 👏👏👏

⭐️ There would be no more added stress of having to explain to family the best gift ideas, what to get, what to avoid, or even worse what needed to be returned or went unused😩🙏 .

⭐️ No more hiding of Amazon boxes so your husband doesn’t see all the things you bought (guilty as charged) 🙋‍♀️ because you wanted to have choices, but forgot to return said choices, so you have accumulated a stockpile. 😂.

The best part is that it will all be FREE online, Cashion’s Mom and expert approved!!

Just wait and see, you’re gonna LOVE it!

https://cashionsmom.com/shop

12/21/2022

50 followers in the first week!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

If you haven’t already, take a moment to read the pilot blog from Cashion’s Mom! We are serving the global special needs community one inspirational blog at a time!

One of my hopes with Cashionsmom.com is to be a light for families that I wish existed when we first started this journey. We spent SO much time, money, and stress in what felt like recreating the wheel for Cashion, because individualized continuity of care is absolutely paramount. I felt like our son worked SO hard to be here with us, and he deserved the best life we could give him!

I’m usually always satisfied with finally finding the right things for Cashion, even after hours of google searching and time wasted away from our busy schedules. Especially when we have to explain to family and friends what gifts our loved one would like, where they’re at developmentally, and what would help us as a family. Goodness, ever wish things were easier?! I sure did!!

Not to give away too much, but …2023 will be FULL of excitement and expansions!

I promise…it’s going to be GOOD!

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12/21/2022

THANK YOU for 50 Followers! Wishing you ALL a Wonderful Christmas Time!

TBT to Christmas 2020. Some people say that when babies smile, it’s just gas… but we like to believe that babies smile when guardian angels are near.
🙏 ⭐️ 🎄 😇

12/16/2022

May our pilot blog, Inspiring JOY, bring physicians, practitioners, therapists, and special needs families inspiration, encouragement, and hope this Christmas season. I am so excited for what 2023 will bring.

Navigating the Complex Care Routines of Special Needs Children to Empower Families and Inspire Joy.

12/15/2022

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