JenT1968

that bit right there sounds like a good start,

wanting a job that was super-flexible/had only minor responsibilities/didn't require much thinking about outside of office hours because your family circumstances at the time mean't that you had the major responsibility for small children, also works.

now they aren't little anymore, it's your time again and you want something intellectually stimulating, stretching, challenging and want to do what you trained so hard in.

but 1) be careful not to come accross as sounding as if being with mom/dad is what is best for all young children, if you have a working parent as an interviewer that could subconciously go against you. and 2) be prepared to state the support you have in place that means you would no longer be running off to meet the needs of your children if they were sick (clearly you would be within reason, but in an interview they would want to know that you wouldn't be running off if they grazed their knee, you know what I mean).

I find sticking as close to the truth as possible is best as a) lies come off leaving a strange "aura" about the person, even if you don't identify the lie b) if you get the job you have to continue the lie (which I find unbeleivably uncomfortable!) and c) although I'm sure you'd jump at the chance of any job, one where they understood that people have all manner of circumstances happening in life other than work is undoubtably better.

Plus I bet your "crappy" jobs have given you all manner of strengths that people who go straight into gradulate work might not have learned:

patience? an appreciation of the stresses that come not from high-powered jobs but from lack of autonomy? self-motivation? Compromise? working with others? working as part of a team? determination?, reliability, stick-with-it-through-gritted-teeth-edness?

You may have a profound empathy for children/adults (I don't know your field) who have less than ideal home-lives/other responsibilities above/beyond/different from the norm. For an educator, I can only imagine that would be terrifically important to your students.

again, I'm sure you know the stuff.

Plus you now know what a good job looks like, because you've done some ones that are a really bad fit for you, I've watched some colleagues moan about the most unbelievably small stuff, because their expectations of a work environment are formed by TV. None of your experience is a waste, you put food on the table, you worked through the night, despite feeling less than top dollar about yourself. Time to reflect on what a good grounding that has given you: the drive to work in your chosen field, the excitement of being challenged and the desire to foster that in others?
Go get 'em!