My Hardship? This Hand.

About two months or so ago, I received a Jury Duty summons.  To say I was annoyed is an understatement. Just a little over three years ago, I was playing the waiting game for one full week waiting for my jury number to be called. By the end of the week and about a dozen moved meetings and schedule re-arrangements, my number was never called and I was thanked for fulfilling my civic duty. And believe me, I respect that we have a justice system where everyone can fulfill their civic duty but seriously, not every three years!  It has literally been three years and two monthes since my last summons.

There are various ways to “get out” of jury duty, but apparently being a mother who happens to work full-time outside of her home is not one of them. I could have postponed the summons, but that would only prolong the inevitable. So I returned the form, placed the summons on my bulletin board, logged in the information into Google Calendar and forgot about it.

Forgot about it until Little Man came home with his invitation for Mother’s Day Tea. Excitedly, I went to place the event in my schedule, but was “greeted” with my Jury Duty schedule. 

This will be our last year celebrating this uber adorable event at his school. All the children greet the Moms and serve us cookies and tea on the porch. They sing us a song or two and we complete a craft together. My Little Man loves this event as much as I do and I can’t bare the thought of missing it.

Part of being a mother who works full-time outside the home is missing an event or school function from time to time and I have learned over the years to deal with this matter. But I have also learned to revise my schedule and juggle various tasks so that I what I do miss is minimal. Now, am I not only being made to miss an event for my son, but I potentially may have to take off several days of my own time – which inadvertently are days I am taking away from spending time with my family to serve on a jury.

You guessed it….I am not happy.

So mark my words, if my number is called, I will produce my hardship by way of this invitation. I will gladly serve my civic duty every year – once a year, once my children are over the age of 12. My son’s hand is not going be to this size forever.