Party like it’s your birthday.

My birthday is in two days and I am turning thirty…  Let’s just leave it at that.  As the big day approaches, I find myself strolling down memory lane.  I try to remember the birthday’s that really stood out and one in particular comes to mind.

I clearly remember my sixth birthday.  I have memories of a fancy birthday party at a fun restaurant with lots of pomp and circumstance.  It was held at an ice cream parlor called Farrell’s.  I remember the waiters and waitress’s all wore clothing with lots of flare and fancy hats and they brought out big bowls of ice cream to me and my friends. There was even a guy dressed like a gorilla and as everybody knows, it’s not a party unless there’s a guy dressed like a gorilla.

I remember receiving a bunch of Star Wars toys and I even had a Star Wars birthday cake, if I remember correctly.  For a six year old boy in the seventies, Star Wars was IT.

But as we get older, those amazing birthday parties seem to fade away.  We tend to grow up.  All the fun and excitement gets toned down.  As we become adults, our priorities change and those wild birthday parties evolve into simple dinners and the exchanging of Hallmark cards.  Don’t you sometimes wish you could party like a kid again?  Don’t you want to do like fitty cent says and “Party like it’s ya birthday”?

Why not be a kid again for one day out of the year?  Here are three things you should be able to do on your birthday:

Eat the biggest steak you can find.  Who cares if it’s full of fat and weighs more than your cat.  I once ate a 22 ounce porter house steak all in one sitting.  It was beautiful and delicious.  It was my own version of the “Old ninety sixer” from that John Candy movie, The Great Outdoors.  I didn’t win a prize for eating all of it but it was worth that extra pound I gained anyway.

Play Games.  As a kid, I remember the rise of establishments like Showbiz and Chuck E’ Cheese.  These were and still are a birthday party paradise.  They had great games like skee-ball and Whack-a-mole.  And who can forget the video games.  Galaga and Dragon’s Lair were my favorites.  These days I prefer corn hole and bocce ball.  But if I were rich enough, I would most certainly install a skee-ball machine in my attic.

Be a cake eater.  I prefer cookie cake with lots of icing.  I would even settle for a giant, chocolate glazed donut with candles on it.  Eat some cake but share it.  Spread the love to your friends not your love handles.  That giant steak you are going to eat for dinner will prevent you from gorging on the cake by yourself.

It’s your birthday.  Have fun.  Celebrate the fact that you have been blessed to live another year.

What do you do on your birthday?