I’m a divorced dad trying to co-parent reasonably, but I keep running into rigid behavior from my ex and I’m looking for perspective from others who’ve dealt with this.

Recently:

I gave up one of my parenting days so she could take our daughters to Disney on Ice.

I also agreed to let her take them on a last-minute water park trip that fell on my scheduled weekend.

A few weeks ago she delayed returning our daughters’ karate bags (uniforms and gear) until right before practice, after multiple messages asking for them.

Now my grandmother passed away, and I asked to pick the girls up 2 hours early on a school day so they wouldn’t have to ride the bus, sit at school briefly, then be pulled out again for the funeral. She refused and said pickup must be from school at the normal time.

I have a special event day clause within my decree that overrides parenting time and I was forced to contact my attorney and send her a letter to get this properly enforced.

I’ve tried to stay calm, flexible, and child-focused, but it feels very one-sided. We’re heading to mediation to try to set better communication rules. I've requested moving all communication to the our family wizard app which she is attempting to reject.

For those who’ve been through this:

Did mediation actually help?

Did things improve with structured communication tools?

Any advice for handling a very rigid co-parent without constant conflict?

Appreciate any insight.