I should have planned better.

My oldest three children’s birthdays are each about two weeks apart, starting on Feb. 25, so I started calling this time of year, the birthday season.

As a young mom, per the custom of the day, children’s birthday parties were a big to-do.

One mother had taken large refrigerator boxes and turned them into cars for the kids to play in. I remember another friend making a cabbage patch doll cake, which had been the theme of her daughter’s party.

I’m telling you; I have some creative and artistic friends and they hosted birthday parties their children will always remember.

Well of course, I wanted to do the same, thus the birthday season.

One of my all-time favorite parties I had for my oldest daughter was a tea party at The Corner’s Mansion Inn.

All the little girls came dressed in their finest and brought their favorite doll, which for most was an American Girl Doll — and I’m not talking about the dolls now made by Mattel. I am referring to the dolls made by the Pleasant Company in Middleton, Wis.; the ones that are actually collectors’ items.

The party had been a total success and to top it off, Laurin Stamm, who was the food editor at The Vicksburg Post at the time, came and took pictures for a story she did for her weekly column.

Talk about a birthday to remember.

And then there was the bowling alley party for my son. I will never forget that party! Those little boys were so loud, I am pretty sure my ears rang for days.

Then there were the Easter-themed birthday parties I had for my second oldest daughter. Her birthday is March 30, so quite often it falls right around Easter.

One year I made bunny rabbit cakes, while another, we had her young guests help plant a tree in the back yard that had plastic Easter eggs tied all over the branches.

Goodness, just recalling those parties makes me feel tired. However, not as tired and worn out as I felt after the last guest had left the party and all the wrapping paper thrown away.

Now that the children are older, obviously, I am not throwing birthday parties like I did when they were young, but I still try to make their days special if it is just with a funny card, a special happy or on most occasions a little cash.

Birthdays may not be a big deal to some, and the older I get, I am not certain I want to even remember mine; however, I do want them to keep coming.

Because the longer they do, the more birthdays I get to celebrate with the people I love the most.