A little convoluted, but here you go.

We reserved seats ahead of time, we had boarding passes in hand for seats together, not in an exit row.

But when we got to the airport the next day there was an equipment change and we were scattered all over the cabin. No amount of persuading would get the agent to reseat us together.

I managed to convince the agent to give me an exit row seat, considering it's value in the onboard trading game, I was told was now my problem, if I wanted to sit with my child.

So holding the boarding card for this very decent seat I boarded with my child and began my offer of a better seat to sit next to my child.

I did manage to get a refund of the seat fees later, but this is one of those times when, as a parent, I did all the right things to make sure my family was seated together, only to be knocked down by basic airline shenanigans.

As I said, convoluted. But I did make one guy very happy.