After celebrating my birthday this past week, I stumbled across the age-old question: why just celebrate for that one day? A birthday is a day that every individual waits around for. It's the day that you can do whatever you want and have an excuse to tell people what to do. The entire day revolves around you and the best part is, no one can complain about it. However, my theory is that one day to celebrate your birthday just isn’t enough, you should have an entire week to boss those loved ones around.

Reason 1: Celebrate with Friends

Of course your birthday should be celebrated with your mother and father, because without them you wouldn't have even had a birthday. However, sometimes you just need be with your friends and boss them around. Everyone acts differently around their parents and their best friends.Those friends are the ones that know what you really want for your birthday, such as a book on how to make mixed drinks, a collage of dumb pictures you have taken throughout the year to bring to college, or post dumb videos of you on Instagram for birthday shout-outs. Best friends are the people you can act your complete self around. That being said, you should be able to act your complete self on your birthday. Every friend should be able to boss each other around one day a year for that special date of birth.

Reason 2: Celebrate with the entire Family

Your birthday should most definitely be celebrated with your immediate family. Grandparents send the best love on birthdays and those Hallmark cards can be cherished for years. I suggest that you designate a day out of your birthday week to have a big family dinner of your choice. Whether that dinner consists of going out to a restaurant or writing a menu of your mother's home-made cooking, that entire dinner will have the spotlight on you and hearing those favorite words all night “Happy Birthday!”

Reason 3: Because You Deserve It

Your birthday is the day that you may wait around for all year. It's the day that you are born, and sometimes you should just have the day to yourself. Today, everything can be so rushed and in a hurry that you may not have a moment to cherish the perfect day. Every individual deserves a day to themselves; fulfill the tasks you wish to, eat the food that you crave without any judgment, and maybe just lounge around and do whatever the hell you want. Take this time for yourself because it may only come around once a year.

Reason 4: Because It's 1/356th out of the Year

This day comes around one day out of the year. Who is to say that your date of birth is important enough for just one day out of the year? No one! This was the day you were entered into the world and should be hearing “Happy Birthday!” more than that one day. Not everyone will be available on your birthday to wish you the best. However, if they have a week to spend moments with you and find a day that works, then maybe you will be able to celebrate with everyone you wish to. Not everything you want to do on your birthday will be able to be fulfilled in 24 hours, but maybe, just maybe, in 168 hours this can be accomplished.

Reason 5: A Week of Presents

Let's just try to not hide it and admit that we love presents. Whether we are 10, 25, or 50 years old, presents are always an expectation on a birthday. If you aren’t able to spend moments with everyone you want to, then you also don't receive all of those presents you're wishing for. But, within those 168 hours that you have to celebrate your date of birth, those presents will eventually and hopefully be received. Don't cut yourself short. Your birthday is not just a typical day. It was the day that you were entered into this world to help make a difference, and everyone should have more than just one day to celebrate.