Okay, I have to share a funny story here that even you child haters

(or at least seat-kicker haters

) will appreciate. When we flew home from Disney in 1997, youngest son was 23 months old. We'd bought him a separate ticket and of course brought his car seat on the plane. Well, when we were boarding, the woman in front of us took the window seat. A man came a bit later and pointed out it was his seat and she got all huffy, telling him she had been there first and maybe he should board on time (they were still boarding

), etc. and raising her voice and eventually refusing to move. Deciding not to make a scene, the man just sat down in the middle seat.
Well, of course since my son was in a car seat, his seat was the window one behind her. And of course since he was 23 months (and we're all pretty tall!), his feet in that car seat had no trouble reaching her seat. Now normally I would have done everything to keep him from kicking - including holding his legs down if necessary and/or removing him from the seat once we were in the air. But in this case, I just spent the entire flight saying in a toneless monotone, "No, no, dear. We mustn't kick." And when she kept glancing over her shoulder and glaring at me (since of course I was in the middle), I'd just smile, shrug my shoulders, and give her a "Kids - what can you do?" glance!

I'll bet that although it probably didn't prevent her from doing the same thing in the future, it at least ensured she made sure there wasn't a kid in a car seat behind her before doing it!