I have a theory about preparing for disaster when traveling with kids: Whatever you are prepared for, that isn’t the disaster that will happen.

I’d rather pack light and have my hands free to deal with whatever comes my way, than to have neatly packed baggies with special treats, toys to give my kids on the plane, and a fresh change of clothes for everyone. Bare essentials for a five-hour flight? Wipes, a handful of diapers, water bottles for all, and two granola bars per person. The kids stock their own carryons with chewing gum and whatever additional stuff they want to have along.

We arrived much earlier for our flight than usual this year. Unbeknownst to us, the flight was delayed. We’d scheduled a Super Shuttle, which had calculated our arrival at the airport for the full three hours you’re supposed to arrive before an international flight, not taking into account the delay.Secret: We have NEVER been even close to three hours early. Maybe two. And we haven’t missed a flight yet. This time, we were there three hours early, and the flight was delayed one hour. You do the math.

We blazed through all the places we usually have to wait. Check-in went especially fast. A couple of our bags got flagged by security , but we made it through screening fairly quickly as well, and didn’t have any of our stuff thrown away (Once I had a kid who packed a family-sized bottle of lotion in her backpack. It was painful to watch that one go in the can). Once we arrived at our gate, we still had a couple of hours to spare.The kids found entertainment watching planes take off and land. I read my book and made sure we didn’t lose anyone.

When we finally boarded the plane, I had used most of my bandwidth watching Six run laps in the waiting area near the gate, and keeping track of kids’ coming and going to refill water bottles and use the bathroom. While I fielded many questions about how soon we would board the plane, the kids spent most of their time entertaining themselves.

Hours later, three quarters of the way into a mostly uneventful flight, Seven was sitting on my lap, when I suddenly felt a warm sensation moving down my leg. Seven drank so much milk and water while waiting to get on the plane, that he had exceeded the capacity of his diaper.Did I regret not having spare clothes for either of us? Nope. We were both dry again before our flight landed. It was just another part of the adventure.

I work under the assumption that we are basically guaranteed to run into at least one person who is unpleasant about our family size and what an inconvenience we are to everyone, but we received nothing but good vibes from both the airline employees and our fellow travelers. People reacted with kindness and fascination rather than annoyance, and I was grateful for that.

I got peed on! Even though I didn’t have any physical tools to deal with the mess, I was mentally prepared. It made all the difference.