The Every Other Weekend Schedule
One home carries the weekdays, the other home gets every other weekend. Simple, predictable, and common when the homes are far apart.
How it works
Every other weekend keeps kids at Household A for weekdays and every weekend, except every second week, when Household B takes Friday through Sunday. That is the entire pattern: one home anchors school-week routine full time, and the other home gets a dedicated, recurring block every other week.
It is the schedule most people picture first when they think of shared parenting time, and it is often where families start before adjusting toward something more even, like 70/30 or 2-2-3, as circumstances change.
Who it fits
Kid ages
Works across a wide age range, but is especially common for school-age kids where one home stays the steady base for the school week and daily routine.
Distance between homes
A strong fit when the homes are a real distance apart, a different town, a longer drive, or even a flight, since there is only one changeover every other week.
Work schedules
Fits well when one parent has more predictable weekday availability and the other has more flexible weekends, or travels frequently during the week.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Very few handoffs, easy to plan around
- Works well across long distances
- One home stays a stable base for school and routine
Cons
- Time is far from evenly split between homes
- Two full weeks can pass between visits for the other home
- Often needs an added weeknight to feel balanced enough for some families
An example month
Say Household B's weekend starts on the first Friday of the month. Week one: kids are with Household A Monday through Thursday, then Household B Friday through Sunday. Week two: kids stay with Household A the entire week, weekend included. Week three repeats Household B's weekend, week four repeats a full week with Household A. Some families extend the pattern by adding a Wednesday evening for Household B during the off weeks, which is simply layered on as a standing addition without changing the base weekend rotation.
Frequently asked
Is every other weekend the same as a 70/30 or 80/20 split?
It is the plainest version of that split. Add a weekday evening or overnight on top of every other weekend and you land closer to a 70/30 schedule; without it, one home carries the large majority of the calendar.
Can a weekday dinner or overnight be added?
Yes, this is one of the most common adjustments, often a Wednesday evening or overnight during the off week, which keeps the base weekend pattern intact but adds a midweek touchpoint.
Why is this schedule common for longer distances?
Because there is only one changeover every other week, it removes the need for frequent midweek trips, which matters when the two homes are a real drive or a flight apart.
Does the weekend always start and end on the same days?
Most families run Friday after school through Sunday evening, though some stretch it to Monday morning drop-off, which effectively turns it into a long weekend every other week.
A month at a glance
The full two-week rotation, repeated across a month. Print it, pin it up, and color in your real dates. Day 1 is wherever your cycle starts.
Free, one page, no sign-up. Prints clean in color or black and white.
Build this schedule in ten seconds
Pick every other weekend, answer whose night it is tonight, and WhoseNight builds your whole calendar automatically, widget included.
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