XML : XML -> Excel Data Formatting

I shall start by listing my XML structure.

  <root>    <person>      <birthday>        03/24/1989      </birthday>      <money>        $24.00      </money>    </person>    <person>      <birthday>        03/24/1989      </birthday>      <money>        $24.00      </money>    </person>  </root>    

When I import this into excel, all the birthdays and money values are formatted as text. I want to be able to apply filters to my table, such as birthdays between x & y or money values less than $13.00. I can select a column and set the formatting, but it still doesn't enable the proper filter options.

Is there a way to make XML/Excel import data as anything other than text? If not, is there a way to easily format the text to the desired format?