Housing & practical matters
Birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day
How to handle the children's birthdays, the parents' birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day in two homes, with the dates for 2026 to 2030.
Spring Break and Summer Custody Schedules
School breaks are long enough to change the shape of a whole year. Here is how families usually divide spring break and summer, what a summer rotation does to the number of nights, and the deadlines that stop the planning from starting in June.
The short version
- Spring break is usually alternated by year, or left inside the regular rotation.
- For summer, families keep the regular rotation, switch to a summer rotation such as alternating weeks, give each parent uninterrupted vacation weeks, or split the summer in halves.
- A ten-week summer on alternating weeks takes an every-other-weekend schedule from about 52 nights a year with the weekend parent to about 77.
- Set a deadline for choosing vacation weeks. Many plans use a date in the spring.
Spring break
- Alternate by year. The whole break with one parent in even-numbered years and the other in odd-numbered years. The most common arrangement, and good for travel.
- Leave it in the rotation. On a 50/50 schedule, some families simply let the regular rotation run through the break.
- Split it. Halves, when the break is long or the homes are close.
- Handle Easter separately. For families who celebrate it, Easter can follow its own rule — it does not always fall in spring break.
| Year | Easter Sunday |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday, April 5, 2026 |
| 2027 | Sunday, March 28, 2027 |
| 2028 | Sunday, April 16, 2028 |
| 2029 | Sunday, April 1, 2029 |
| 2030 | Sunday, April 21, 2030 |
Summer: five common arrangements
| Arrangement | How it works | Often suits |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the regular rotation | The school-year schedule continues; vacations are taken inside it or by swapping. | Families on a 50/50 schedule who live close |
| A summer rotation | A different rotation for the summer, often alternating weeks. | Families whose school-year schedule is every other weekend or otherwise uneven |
| Vacation weeks | Each parent may take one to three uninterrupted weeks, chosen by a deadline. | Almost everyone, on top of one of the others |
| Halves | The first half of the summer with one parent, the second with the other, alternating by year. | Long distances, or older children who manage long blocks |
| Most of the summer with one parent | The parent with less time during the school year has most of the summer. | Long-distance families |
What a summer rotation changes
On an every-other-weekend schedule, the weekend parent has 2 of every 14 nights — about 52 nights a year. Switching to alternating weeks for a ten-week summer gives that parent 35 nights in the summer alone, and takes the year to about 77 nights, or 21%. On a 50/50 schedule a summer rotation changes the shape of the summer, not the total.
Overnight counts can matter for child support and for some court decisions, so if the numbers are part of what you are weighing, check how they are used where you live. Custody schedule examples explains how to count overnights.
Vacation weeks and notice deadlines
A typical clause lets each parent take up to two consecutive weeks of vacation with the children during the summer, chosen in writing by a set date in the spring. In even-numbered years one parent chooses first; in odd-numbered years the other. The details worth writing down:
- The deadline for choosing, and who chooses first in which years.
- Whether the weeks must be consecutive, and the longest stretch allowed.
- What a parent shares before a trip: where, a contact number and the return time.
- Written consent for out-of-state or international travel.
- Whether a vacation week can override a holiday in the summer, such as Independence Day or Father's Day.
Camps, activities and childcare
Summer is when the extra costs pile up: camps, childcare and activities that run in only one home's weeks. Agree who books what, how the costs are split, and how each parent learns the schedule. In the app, the Finance Assistant keeps the children's costs in one place and splits them the way you agreed. Read keeping track of your child's costs in two homes.
For the conversation itself — starting early, compromising, putting the children first — read summer planning with shared custody.
Putting it in the Co-parenting app
Public holidays are filled in for where you live, and you can import your child's actual school holidays — the dates the school has published — for almost every school across North America, the EU and Australia. See how to import a school calendar, then check the dates it finds against the school's own information.
The summer arrangement goes into the schedule as a proposal: change the days directly, or apply a template between two dates — a different rotation for the summer, for example. Nothing changes until the other parent accepts it, and once the schedule is active, every change is a request the other parent has to accept. The FAQ has more on schedules and change requests.
Related guides
- Holiday custody schedule: the four ways to split holidays, with an even/odd-year example
- Thanksgiving custody schedule: five common arrangements, with dates to 2030
- Christmas and winter break: splitting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and halving the break
- Birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day: the days that do not fit a rotation
- What to include in a parenting plan: the full checklist
Frequently asked questions
How is spring break usually split?
Most often it is alternated by year, with the whole break going to one parent in even-numbered years and the other in odd-numbered years. On a 50/50 schedule, some families leave it inside the regular rotation.
How is summer custody usually split?
Families keep the regular rotation, switch to a summer rotation such as alternating weeks, give each parent uninterrupted vacation weeks, or split the summer in halves. Many combine a rotation with vacation weeks.
What is a summer vacation notice deadline?
A date in the plan, often in the spring, by which each parent chooses their vacation weeks in writing. It stops summer planning from turning into a last-minute negotiation.
Can we use a different schedule just for the summer?
Yes. Write down the start and end dates and the summer rotation, and what happens when school starts again.
Does a summer schedule change the number of overnights?
It can. Switching an every-other-weekend schedule to alternating weeks for a ten-week summer takes the weekend parent from about 52 to about 77 nights a year. On a 50/50 schedule the total stays the same.
6 November 2026
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