Jan writes:

April is a month of family birthdays for me: Today is my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday and on Sunday my third child’s 26th birthday, so I am thinking about birthdays. Easter would have been my mother’s 93rd birthday, but she died when she was only 72 years old.

I love to celebrate birthdays, but I know others don’t like to as much. My second child doesn’t care about birthdays that much.

How about you? What do you think of birthdays?

1. What are your feelings about celebrating birthdays, especially your own? Believe it or not, I don’t mind celebrating. I have found from experience that most people like the well wishes. However, I also don’t like trying to guess what people want. I’d rather they announce it, say, “LET’S PARTAYYYY!” and enjoy! As for my own? Well, Facebook does make that easy! (Although I did remove my birthday from my profile one year to see how many people actually knew when it was…)

2. Do you have any family traditions about birthdays? Presentses! Cake! And of course a round of Happy Birthday. We usually make a homemade cake of the birthday girl/boy’s choosing. Some years we had a BODACIOUS party for one of the kids, and other years it was a sleepover, pizza and an all-night movie fest (for them).

3. Is it easy to remember friends’ and family members’ birthdays? If so, how do you do it? Well, Facebook helps! For my extended family, I know them. But (much as I love them) I am not good at sending cards, so I try to at least send an email or phone them. For our immediate family, it helps that The Johnnie’s Birthday is right around mine, and Reedy Girls is right after Bearded Brewers. We kinda crammed our family b’days into two months!

4. What was one of your favorite birthdays? (or your unhappiest?) Well, it’s kind of a tie. The two happiest bdays were the times when I either brought a baby home from the hospital on that day (as in the case of The Johnnie!) or was about to deliver (Reedy Girl).

5. Post anything else you want to share about birthdays, including favorite foods, songs, and/or pictures.
Our favorite cakes are family recipes. One is a chocolate ‘dump’ cake. One is a nut cake. Both turn out to be tender, tasty and “melt off the plate”. I will try and post recipes some time. They are DELISH!!!