With 18-month-old triplets and a 5-year-old, Torrey Scow always, and often quite literally, has her hands full. As any parent can imagine, taking care of these little ones is a full-time job. In fact, taking care of these four kiddos is such a handful, finding a babysitter outside of her own mom is nearly impossible.
That’s why, when Torrey was summoned for jury duty, she was sure she’d be excused. But even sending a photo to further prove her situation didn’t seem to be enough. After a while, she was given the date she was expected to show up to court. By the time Torrey was told when to come in, she only had three days to figure out a plan.
Not showing up wasn’t an option — if she didn’t, she’d be fined $1,000. With her husband at work and her one babysitter out of town, she decided she’d show up with triplets Lexi, Lincoln, and Zoey plus Emory, who was 4-years-old at the time, in tow.
“I told my husband, ‘Don’t worry about it. I bet if I just take them, they’ll probably see me and send me right home. It’ll be fine,'” she recalled.
Much to Torrey’s surprise, that is not what happened. Instead, she did her best to keep her fussy kiddos fed with snacks. But that only worked for so long.
“They start screaming, but they’re in this stage where they scream at the top of their lungs,” she said. “It’s not possible to get one baby quiet, let alone three. And my older daughter is so good, just sitting there and trying to help as they throw their bottles on the floor and everyone’s looking at us.”
While on a bathroom break for Emory, she took the kids for a stroll in the hall. Here, they ran into the judge who wanted to chat.
“He was so nice and found them this box of toys, stuffed animals and whatnot, and brought them in for them to play with,” Torrey said. “And finally, once they were getting entertained and settled, the judge said he was going to release who he didn’t need and let me and one other person go home.”
Although she still had to wait there for two and a half more hours, this exhausted mom was very much relieved to be allowed to go home.
“Usually it’s me and my husband when we go out with all the kids, but this time it was just me and I was physically and emotionally exhausted when it was all done,” she explained. “It was me by myself and it’s dead silent and all eyes are on me. I was so close to crying by the end and then they finally let us go.”
It’s not easy being a parent, especially to so many little ones, but Torrey wouldn’t change a thing about her sometimes chaotic life.
“You’re going to have rough moments, but if you even have one child or no children, you have rough moments,” she said. “But the good times, you get time[s] three, and it is the absolute best.”
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