The simplest 50/50 schedule there is
One full week with one parent, then one full week with the other. Two handovers a fortnight, the fewest of any equal-time arrangement. Everyone can remember it, schools can remember it, and grandparents can remember it.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Week 2 | B | B | B | B | B | B | B |
Build the calendar
Choose the day your weeks change over and who has the first week. The calendar updates as you go, and the link you share carries the dates and nothing else.
Starting Sep 7, 2026
September 2026
October 2026
Your co-parent gets the same calendar and can view it from their side. Nothing personal is in the link.
Picking the changeover day
- Friday after school. Each parent starts their week with a weekend, and the handover happens at the school gate. The most common choice.
- Sunday evening. Keeps school weeks whole and gives a natural moment to hand over bags, homework and news. It does mean the parents meet.
- Monday morning at school. Cleanest for high-conflict situations: neither parent sees the other. The weekend belongs to whoever is finishing the week.
The seven-day gap
The weakness of alternating weeks is obvious: a week is a long time for a small child not to see a parent. Three ways families soften it:
- A midweek dinner with the off-duty parent, usually Wednesday, no overnight.
- A midweek overnight, which turns the arrangement into something closer to a 5-2-2-5.
- A short video call at a fixed time each evening, which works better for older children than younger ones.
Fitting holidays in
Keep the alternation running and override specific dates. If Christmas falls in Parent A's week but this year is Parent B's Christmas, the holiday rule wins for those days and the pattern resumes afterwards without anyone recalculating. The generator above handles that: add a rule, choose whether it alternates each year, and the calendar shows both.
When to consider something else
- Your child is under five and struggles at the start of each week.
- One parent's work makes a full week impossible.
- The weekly handover has become the only time you see each other and it has turned into an argument. In that case, move the changeover to school and put everything practical in writing beforehand. The handover checklist is built for exactly that.