Boxing Day in Your Parenting Plan

Boxing Day is a U.K bank holiday on the 26th December — the day after Christmas.

The name was coined by Queen Victoria because this was when the wealthy would box up unwanted gifts from Christmas and give them to their servants.

Now it is a day for people to recover from the indulgences of Christmas. School, banks and most businesses (other than shops) close. Many people see extended family, and some get up early to be the first in line for the Boxing Day sales.

Given this is such a family-focused day, it is important to include a detailed residence and contact schedule for it in your parenting plan.

Scheduling ideas for Boxing Day

You're free to put any Boxing Day schedule that parents agree on in your parenting plan. Don't forget to take into account your arrangements for the rest of the holiday season.

Split the long weekend

So your child gets to spend time with both parents around Christmas, you could give one parent Christmas Eve and the first half of Christmas Day, while the other parent could have the second half of Christmas Day plus Boxing Day.

This could alternate each year or stay fixed.

Split Boxing Day

Your child could stay with one parent from the morning until the afternoon, and with the other parent from the afternoon until the evening.

Then you could plan activities around when you get to see your child — perhaps arrange a walk with Mum in the morning and Boxing Day sales with Dad in the afternoon.

Alternate the holiday yearly

Another option is to alternate who gets Boxing Day depending on whether it's an even- or odd-numbered year.

The easiest way to make a holiday contact schedule

There's a lot to think about when you build a holiday schedule. You'll want it to address weekend and midweek holidays, reflect special occasions unique to your family (like birthdays) and work for years to come.

The Custody X Change app makes it easy. Just open your Custody X Change calendar and follow our steps to make a holiday schedule.

To make a residence and contact schedule quickly and affordably, turn to Custody X Change. In no time, you'll have written and visual versions that include the holidays you care about.