i don't much recline the seat, as i'm a little thing and don't need it. however, my seat-kicking policy is pretty firm:

young kids (2-4 or so) suck up and deal. any attempt to deal with this only creates more problems.

older kids (4-12 or so) try to deal with it politely without dragging the FA into it. generally, i revert to "suck up and deal."

One you're over 12, if you kicka my seat, i ask politely that you stop. Twice. After that, i'm all over the FA to put miscreants in their place.

i just hate the people who think it's amusing in some strange way to kick seats. it's disrespectful to the person in front of you. it's disrespectful to the airline (cracking the back of a seatback is not as cheap a fix as you might think), and it's just noxious.