I’ve received 2 summons.
The first one was 20-some years ago and I had a 2 week old (I was nursing!) at home. I asked to speak to the judge privately during a break and he immediately excused me (I told him if I was going to stay any longer, I would need a place to pump… .and had brought my pump).
The second time, my kids were in ES and MS and my DH travelled … I was a stay at home mom. Again, I asked to speak to the judge and he excused me. I would have been seated for that - I had a really low number and I later found out, it was the largest $$ of damages in our county awarded. But it was about 3-4 weeks and it would have been difficult to rely upon friends and neighbors for carpools for school and sports for that long. I think b/c the youngest was 8 or 9, it was compeling, b/c the judge asked me the kids’ ages.