So what do I do now? Pre kids was a mid level IT in investment banking, now I'm a mum to 4 with the last about to start school.

[Wills]

I'm desperate to return to work, but want to return to something that will force me to use my brain. I'm no longer qualified for IT jobs as I've been off now for 8 years and the IT world has moved on substantially. My dh works in Iraq 6 weeks out of every 8 and we don't live anywhere near any family (but we're loathe to move since its lovely here). However apart from good friends I'm the only point of contact for the kids 3/4 of the time. Then there's the school runs, school holidays and just to make things extra complicated two of my kids are diagnosed as on the Autistic spectrum.

But I need to earn my own money, have a bit of life for myself and use my brain for something more than my kids homework.

Suggestions please....

Oh blimey, I've just read my heading and need to include the fact that I appear to have lost vast portions of my brain, especially those bits in charge of grammar.

Become a roving IT support person and specialise in the over-60s? DH and I noticed a welcome falling off in unpaid technical support calls when my DPs discovered their local one! I am presuming that you have heaps of patience and are good at explaining things...

Could you train at home to brush up your IT skills (I know easier said than done, DH said he'd rather pluck out his eyeballs than relearn C).

Can you handle MSoft office? You could register as a temp. Someone I know works temp for the NHS (had to find which cottage hospital to apply to). She can work flexi hours as much or as little as she wants.

I started back as a supply dinner lady. Was perfect for finding my confidence again.

Actually both of those are rather good ideas to look into - cheers!

Do you want to go back into IT? If you do, then there should be absolutely no reason to rule out returning to it. Yes, of course, IT has moved on a lot in 8 years. However, the basics remain unchanged and if you had an aptitude for it once, there is no reason why you can't pick it all up again.

Firstly, you will need to give some thought into how you can update your skill set.

What area were you working in before?

If you were software developer, then a great way to learn new technology is to build an application that does something you are interested in. It's now really easy (and cheap) to do this sort of thing at home as there is so much open source and cloud based technology out there. All you need is a laptop and a bit of imagination.

There is huge opportunity for flexible working in IT. There are freelance jobs that you can find in places like ODesk where you can work from home - some of the contracts are poorly paid but many aren't, and especially once you get yourself established.

PMing you something that might be of interest.