What's Working Wednesday: Seasonal Swap Day

What's Working Wednesday is my weekly post to showcase something that is working for me or my family at the moment. It may not work for us forever and it may or may not work for you.

Do you ever see your kids running around in shorts or sandals when it is way too cold outside for such attire? Do you have a battle in the spring over when to pull out the summer stuff?

Several years ago I was wondering, "When should I put up our summer stuff and get out our winter stuff?"A woman at church told me that when she was growing up her mother had a set date that she would do her family's seasonal clothing swap every year.

I don't remember what her dates were but I thought that was a good idea. After discussing it with Glenn we picked 2 dates: October 15th and April 15th.

In New York after October 15th there aren't too many days that you are going to really want shorts and sandals. There may be a few but you will survive in jeans and a t-shirt without sweating to death. The same is true for before April 15th. As for wearing shorts and sandals, you are pretty safe up until October 15th (though they really haven't been worn much around here lately) and after April 15th without too much concern for frostbite. ;)

October 15th is often a sad day around here. Saying good-bye to shorts, tank tops, flip flops, and our beloved Keens for 6 long months. October 15th has no official name in our house (I think I'll ask the kids to name it this year). I really need to come up with something to make it a celebration. I'm thinking we may have hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies this year.

April 15th, on the other hand, comes with much celebration! The kids have named it "Flip Flop Day!" It is a day they count down to every spring - it gives April 15th a better name than Tax Day.

Having these two dates on our calendar has been very helpful over the years to help us all be on the same page with what can and can't be worn at what time of the year. We may be keeping some summer stuff out this time since we don't know what our "mystery months" hold and our dates may change depending on where we end up next year but October 15th and April 15th seem to work pretty well for Upstate New York.

Do you have a set time or a strategy for doing an off season clothing exchange for your family? What works for you?