Holiday Visitation Plans

With Thanksgiving having just passed and Christmas on the horizon, I thought it would be helpful to address holiday visitations. This can be a difficult topic to sort out, especially because it is rarely spelled out in a custody order. The parents have to decide what is best and fair for their kid(s) and themselves. There are about three logical ways to go about organizing holiday visitations:
Alternate
This plan is good for parents who do not get along very easily and hopefully aids in a less stressful holiday. The idea is that one parent would get one holiday, such as Thanksgiving, every even year while the other parent would get that holiday with the kid(s) every odd numbered year. This plan works best when every holiday is paired up with another. For example, if Mom gets the kid(s) on Thanksgiving every even year, then she should have the kid(s) for Christmas every odd year. This way each parent has the kid(s) for about half of the year's holidays each year. This requires a lot of planning all at once, but with the hopes that holiday visitations for all holidays for the next few years is set. And this doesn't mean that, continuing with the above example, that on the even years when Mom doesn't have the kid(s) for Christmas, she can't celebrate Christmas at all.  Instead she could plan her own Christmas on December 20th for those even years.
Split
This plan allows both parents to spend every holiday with their kid(s). This plan is simple to explain, but harder to execute. Essentially every holiday would be split in half, with the kid(s) spending part of the day with each parent. A lot of planning prior top each holiday is required so that the kid(s) don't spend majority of the day traveling from one parent to the other.
Assign
This plan would work best for parents who are of different religions, but can work for all families. With this plan, each parent is assigned holidays that they will always have the kid(s). Again, this requires planning upfront, with the hopes that holiday visitations are set.
Holiday visitation plans are unique to each family. Communication between the parents and the kid(s) is vital to creating a plan that makes everyone happy. It may require some trial and error, or a combination of the above plans. But remember to stay positive, open-minded- and cooperative while keeping your kid(s) interests in the forefront of your mind.