Five Year gap

Over the past five years, I have been home with my little family, making memories and filling time with every part-time venture I could get my hands on, while still trying to devote all of me to child-rearing.

Now, with two of the three school age and the third manageable with my husbands schedule and attention, I can return some focus to furthering my career.

With the enrollment forms filled out for each of our school-goers, the sheer fear is setting in. I've been hard at home, balancing budgets, managing multiple tasks and deadlines, mediating disputes, homeschooling and a whole bunch of other (actually paid) part-time gigs.

I feel like I have a ton of valuable skills, and a willingness to learn 'the ways of the world' in any school environment... So what gives?  Do the years I spent with my children invalidate the years of education and previous time I spent in a classroom? Do the part-time jobs I have had over the past five years not count?

I am looking at my resume, gleaming with experience and lacking the-so-called gap, many stay-at-home-moms returning to the workforce have, and yet it isn't enough. I have been home for five years - five years tutoring, - five years curriculum writing - five years homeschooling and yet, that's what these potential school districts see, a FIVE YEAR GAP. Suddenly, my bachelors and masters degrees are irrelevant, my current positions, (gym teacher, online educator & curriculum design assistant) don't even matter. 

So what's a return-to-work mom to do? Call in favors, and settle for any 'in' that turns up, just to spruce up the resume.