And I'll smile back knowing you're about to have a really great flight with my 3 year old :)

(to be clear, I don't do this personally and pay extra to sit together but I do hope people start parking their kids all over the plane since that's what we all seem to want! It's tempting.)

So according to you: they should give up their paid seat so that you don't have to pay for assigned seats, even when you know way in advance that you are traveling with a 3 yr old?

Let's ignore special cases where you didn't have a chance to buy assigned seats, and focus on the vastly more common scenario where parents can easily pay to ensure seats of their choice.

Yes, it's nickel and diming by the airlines to make all seat assignments paid. And hating airlines is completely justified.

But I find the entitlement of parents, that other passengers should accommodate their parsimonious preferences, just amazing.