I am not a divorced man, rather a woman married to a man who is divorced. Not to sound cliché but I really despise his ex wife. They were married for 7 years, the last one was spent in separation. They share a now 10 year old daughter who was 6 when his ex wife took her three hours away while my husband was at work to live with her parents. During the separation my husband planned a Disney Land trip for his daughter and other relatives. Her mother refused to allow her to go on the trip purely out of spite and their daughter missed out. My husband even offered to pay for his ex to accompany them and would even get her a separate room to stay in if it meant his daughter could go. Still a hard no. They got divorced and he eventually met me. We got married and share two young boys. We have tried to include his daughter who lives 3 hrs away in life events that require some compromise on her mom’s part due to the fact that pick up/drop off is such a long distance. Her mom refuses to cooperate, using the parenting plan as an excuse to remain rigid and unwilling to negotiate. There is absolutely NO deviating from the court papers. Never mind that my husband has let his daughter skip a week during the summer so she could attend camp. Or every other time her mom asked for more time. So we’ve had to miss weekends with her because it was impossible to make the long drive and ultimately it negatively impacts their daughter (missed her baby brother’s birth as the most recent example). So anyway, now on to the small victory. My husband and I recently planned a summer vacation for all the kids. We chose Disney World, a trip we initially didn’t think we could swing this year due to a new house and baby but it turns out we have enough to do it. So we called her up and surprised her with the news that she will get her turn at Disney. Needless to say her reaction was nothing short of excitement. Meanwhile her mother gets to hear about all of the amazing things her daughter will get to experience this summer knowing she won’t be there with her. Another thing - my parents are wanting to do a big family Disney Cruise (they just returned from one and loved it) where they pay for all of their kids’ families. They want to include her next time even though they have no obligation to her. I realized how crazy it is that my parents want her to experience Disney more than her own mother did and it just baffles me. We are just so happy to finally be in a position where we can give his daughter this awesome experience that was once stripped from her - and this time her mom can’t do a damn thing about it.