What Spring Cleaning Means To Our Family

March 17, 2015

Whew!! We survived another winter, and what a winter it was. I moved from NYC in eager anticipation of a milder southern winter.

After all, Wikipedia said that the average winter in South Georgia was a daytime high of 50-70 degrees. After finally defrosting from single digit temperatures and watching record snow throughout the rest of the country, I can finally see spring trying to make its appearance. For us, this means not only spring cleaning but a wonderful opportunity to teach our kids valuable lessons about money.

Giving

We used to just gather all of the old clothes they outgrew in three months, unused Christmas toys they begged for, and other things and took them to a nonprofit thrift store. Then we realized that we wanted our kids to have an appreciation for what they have so we picked a homeless shelter, and we not only donate our things, but we also spend a day volunteering so we get to know the families. Not only did this bring us closer together as a family, but our girls got to see how their donations helped other people. Because we choose a nonprofit shelter, we can still get a tax deduction for our donations.

Business Skills

Our daughters wanted to buy a high-priced toy. Instead of us buying it for them, we told them that they have to pay for it so they took some of their toys and books they no longer used and actually sold them to the neighborhood kids. They had to come up with a name for the business, how much they were going to sell it for, how they were going to split the money (that one took a while), and how they were going to advertise. Much to our delight, they said they wanted to donate some of the money to the homeless shelter.

Teamwork

In order to do this, my kids had to work as a team. There were moments I gave up hope they would ever come to an agreement, but thankfully they did. Each girl had to recognize what they did better, instead of what they wanted to do. My oldest did all of the writing and decided on the cost. My youngest, who does not have a shy bone in her body, actually did the advertising. Once they stopped fighting, they realized they worked better as a team. I so hope this lasts longer than spring.

Spring cleaning not only gave us an opportunity to clear some of the clutter from our home, it gave us an opportunity to come together as a family to help others and teach our kids lifelong skills. What will you do for spring cleaning this year? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.