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Holiday rotation sheet: split holidays between families once, for five years
One way to split holidays between families without a yearly argument is to decide once for several years, in writing. This sheet holds five: 2026 to 2030, a letter in each box for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and Easter. Each fall you read the year’s column instead of reopening the question.
- Sheet
- One page: a five-year table and three short sections, signed by both of you
- Paper
- US Letter and A4, portrait
- Versions
- Blank, and a fillable PDF with 54 fields
- Designs
- Minimal, warm and color
- For
- A couple with two families who both want the holidays
What is on the holiday rotation sheet
1. Where we spend each holiday
Five printed holidays, two blank rows, a column per year. The families are A and B, so neither side is the default.
2. How we decide
Three rules to check, plus a line for Our own rule.
3. Visits and travel
Visit limits in nights, plus who books the tickets and who tells each family.
4. When a year is different
The exceptions, then two signatures.
How to split holidays between families for five years at once
The table has one instruction: “Write A, B, Both, or Home in each box.” Both means you see both families that day; Home means the two of you stay put.
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | A | B | A | B | A |
| Christmas Eve | B | A | B | A | B |
| Christmas Day | B | A | B | A | B |
| New Year’s Eve | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home |
| Easter | B | A | B | A | |
| Fourth of July | Both | Both | Both | Both |
The sheet’s example; Sofia and Ben are invented. Easter and the Fourth of July had already passed in 2026.
Thanksgiving goes to Family A three times and Christmas to Family B three times, so of the ten Thanksgivings and Christmases each family gets five. An exact split is optional; on holiday tasks, the Gottman Institute says “It’s more important that each partner feels responsibilities are balanced.”
The filled-in example, minimal design.
Pick one rule before you fill in a box
- Alternate every year: for families far apart.
- Split the day between both families: for families a short drive apart.
- Host both families at our place: if your table fits everyone.
Sofia and Ben checked only the first box and added one line of their own: Thanksgiving and Christmas are never with the same family in the same year. That rule fills most of the table by itself.
One column per year, read each fall.
Visits, tickets and who tells each family
Section 3, as Sofia and Ben filled it in:
| Line on the sheet | Sofia and Ben wrote |
|---|---|
| Nights we stay with family, at most | 3 nights |
| Nights family stays with us, at most | 4 nights |
| We book a hotel when | their guest room is already taken |
| Who books the tickets, and by when | Ben: Sept 30 for Nov, Oct 31 for Dec |
| Who tells each family the plan | each of us calls our own parents |
| Both families hear the plan by | October 15 |
October 15 is six weeks before Thanksgiving 2026. For holiday family drama, the Gottman Institute’s advice is to “sit down with your partner beforehand and create a game plan together”; section 3 is that plan for logistics.
Section 3, Visits and travel.
When a year is different
Section 4 is for the year nobody planned. The example lists a new baby, a serious illness, a parent’s 70th birthday. The fix next year: the other family picks their holiday first.
The Review on line holds the date you reread the whole sheet: January 10, 2027 in the example. The printed years run to 2030; a 2027 to 2031 version follows in January 2027.
Signed by both, kept on the fridge.
Download the sheet
Three designs, each in US Letter and A4, blank or fillable, free with no email or account.
Questions people ask
What is a holiday rotation?
For a couple, it is a fixed order of where you spend each holiday, agreed years ahead. At work the words mean a schedule of holiday shifts.
What about holidays not printed on the sheet?
Use the two blank rows at the bottom of the table, as the example does with the Fourth of July.
Does this work for divorced parents sharing holidays?
No. It is written for a couple and their two families, and it is “Not a legal document.” Parents sharing custody follow the holiday schedule in their parenting plan.
Other free printable sheets
Save this sheet to Pinterest
Pin it now and the sheet is ready for the evening you both sit down before the fall invitations arrive. Five holidays, five years, one letter in each box.
Keep the booking date in the app
In Alpacto, booking the tickets by September 30 can be a task pact with a deadline. One thing, done once, marked complete and confirmed by the other person. Accounts start at age 13.