I did a thing.

Maybe it's not a good idea, but I trusted the people I asked and talked to and handed out no condemnation for not contributing. But I pretty much crowdsourced my son's birthday present(s).

Gymnastics lessons and a kitchen set.

We could probably afford one of these on it's own, but 2 would be right out. Being so close to Christmas Gideon really wasn't wanting for too much. He's just started growing into the clothes we bought last growth spurt and we try to keep the toys on the down low.
Except the kitchen set. Gideon is such an immersive player that I knew he would benefit from the kitchen set. We couldn't swing that for Christmas and we saved it for his birthday as it were.

Here's the thing. I really dislike kid toys. I think they're cheap and well meaning but ultimately something that will be a nuisance and a stressor. We flood kids with toys these days. It's no wonder they have a problem taking care of their toys or cleaning up after them when they have so many! It is hard to manage it all. They're emotional balls of learning and wiring and we just throw piles and piles of stuff at them!! Loud stuff, colorful stuff!
I am still going through childhood toys of mine. Things that I'm emotionally too attached to to give to Gideon but that I certainly don't play with right now. That I leave in a box or on a shelf. It's not right. It weighs me down and prevents me from being who I need to be in the present.

So I asked people to contribute instead to these big presents for Gideon and that we'd pick up the rest if we fell short of the goal. (The goal, all said and done was about $230.) And it worked great. People gave and Gideon was so so blessed by the outpouring from family that came about. We had wanted to do a big party at his Grandparents' place, but they had some stuff come up and were unable to host. So we shrunk the invite list to the essentials (aka how many people we can fit in the house at one time) and had a swell time kicking around balloons and eating cake.

Planning things for a little one doesn't have to be this huge horrible emotional tangle. Sometimes it can even go smoothly.