🍎 The September Slump Is Real: 15 Ways to Put the FUN Back Into the School Routine

The backpacks aren't quite so new anymore.

The carefully organized school-supply drawers have somehow exploded. Someone has already lost a water bottle. Mornings feel earlier. Homework feels longer. And that enthusiastic “YAY! SCHOOL!” energy from August?

Yeah... she left the building. 😂

Welcome to the September Slump.

The novelty of a new school year has worn off, but we're nowhere near holiday break. Kids are tired. Parents are tired. Activities are piling up, and suddenly your family calendar looks like it requires its own administrative assistant.

Before everyone completely loses their buzz, 🐝 here are 15 simple ways to put a little FUN back into the school-week routine.

🎉 1. Declare a Random Celebration Day

Don't wait for a birthday.

Celebrate “We Survived Tuesday,” “Nobody Forgot Their Lunch Day,” or “Everyone Found Their Shoes Morning.”

Add cupcakes, dance music or ice cream after dinner.

Ridiculous holidays are sometimes the best holidays.

🍽️ 2. Let the Kids Pick Dinner

Once a week, let one child choose dinner.

Yes, this may result in pancakes.

Or pizza.

Or pancakes on pizza, at which point parental veto power may be necessary. 😂

The point is giving kids something small to look forward to during the week.

🚗 3. Create a School Pickup Playlist

Let everyone add a few favorite songs and blast it on the ride home.

Bonus points for embarrassing car dancing while sitting safely in the pickup line.

🥞 4. Have Breakfast for Dinner

September schedules can get wild.

Give yourself permission to scramble some eggs, make pancakes, cut up fruit and call dinner DONE.

Kids think it's exciting.

Parents know it's actually survival disguised as whimsy.

Everybody wins.

💌 5. Hide Notes in Their Lunchboxes

They don't have to be elaborate.

Try:

“You've got this!”

“Can't wait to see you!”

Or...

“If you actually bring this lunchbox home today, I will be VERY impressed.” 😂

Older kids may pretend it's embarrassing.

Keep doing it anyway.

🌙 6. Have a Midweek Pajama Night

Pick one evening when everyone changes into pajamas ridiculously early.

Make an easy dinner, pile onto the couch and watch something together.

There is something wonderfully rebellious about wearing pajamas at 5:17 PM.

🍦 7. Surprise Them After School

Every once in a while, skip the normal trip home.

Stop for ice cream.

Visit a park.

Go to the library.

Take a walk.

Spend 30 minutes somewhere you've never been.

It doesn't need to cost much. The surprise is what makes it memorable.

🎒 8. Turn Morning Tasks Into a Challenge

Instead of repeating:

“SHOES! TEETH! BACKPACK!”

for the 847th time...

Set a timer.

Can everyone be completely ready before the song ends?

Suddenly you're not nagging.

You're hosting the Family Morning Olympics. 🏆

🍕 9. Start a Friday-Night Tradition

Give everyone something predictable to look forward to.

Pizza Friday.

Movie Friday.

Game Night Friday.

Living-Room-Picnic Friday.

It doesn't need to be Pinterest-worthy.

Traditions become special because you keep doing them.

📝 10. Create a “Good Stuff” Jar

Put a jar on the kitchen counter.

Whenever something good happens, write it down.

“I got an A!”

“We saw a rainbow.”

“Mom didn't burn dinner.”

“Nobody argued on the way to school.”

At the end of the month, read them together.

It's amazing how many little good things happen when you start looking for them.

🌳 11. Take Homework Outside

Colorado September weather can be gorgeous.

Grab a blanket, pencils, snacks and homework and head outside.

The backyard counts.

A park counts.

Even sitting on the porch counts.

A change of scenery can make the same old worksheet feel slightly less... worksheet-y. 🍂

🍪 12. Add a “Mystery Treat” Day

Choose one random school day each week and surprise everyone.

It could be cookies after school, popcorn during homework, hot chocolate before bed or a special snack tucked into a backpack.

Don't tell them which day.

The mystery is half the fun.

👑 13. Let Someone Be “Boss of the Evening”

Rotate through family members.

The Boss gets to choose things like:

🎵 Dinner music
🍽️ Where everyone sits
🎲 The family game
📺 The show
🍨 Dessert

Tiny choices can feel BIG to kids.

Just establish beforehand that Boss status does not include canceling bedtime indefinitely. 😂

📵 14. Have a No-Agenda Hour

No homework.

No chores.

No practices.

No screens if you want.

Just one hour when nobody needs to accomplish anything.

Color.

Build LEGO.

Play outside.

Talk.

Bake something.

Be gloriously unproductive together.

Kids aren't the only ones who need breathing room.

💗 15. Celebrate the Small Wins

This one matters most.

September doesn't have to look perfect.

Maybe everyone made it to school on time.

Maybe homework happened without tears.

Maybe your child tried something new.

Maybe dinner was cereal because that's all you had left in you.

Count it.

Family life isn't made up only of vacations, birthdays and huge adventures.

It's made up of thousands of ordinary Tuesdays.

And sometimes the best thing we can do is sprinkle a little fun into those ordinary days. 💗

🐝 Buzzy's Final Buzz

If your family is feeling the September Slump, you don't need to overhaul your entire routine.

Pick ONE thing from this list.

Have pancakes tonight.

Blast music tomorrow morning.

Leave a ridiculous lunchbox note.

Go get ice cream after school.

Because childhood doesn't stop while we're getting everyone to school, finishing homework and racing to practice.

The ordinary days are childhood, too.

So let's make a few of them worth remembering. 🐝💗

Find Your Family Buzz!

🌐 TheBuzzyB.com