It’s midday. I’ve just finished an NDIS plan review.
Last month, I travelled to Cairns for a 1 pm appointment with a sleep specialist who was only visiting for a few days. The appointment ran overtime, too.
And people still ask why I can’t just go back to teaching.
Here’s what people don’t see.
Specialist appointments booked months in advance, only to be rescheduled at the last minute.
Hours spent organising referrals, chasing reports and reading assessments.
Constant emails back and forth with therapists.
GP appointments to renew prescriptions.
Invoices to submit to NDIS plan managers.
Last-minute appointments you accept because you don’t know when another will become available.
When your child’s needs determine your availability, committing to traditional working hours isn’t as simple as finding a job.
Why returning to work Is difficult for medical mums
Before becoming a medical mum, I was a primary school teacher.
I’d spent years studying, gaining experience and developing my skills. I loved my work and took pride in being someone my colleagues could rely on.
Then my son’s medical needs changed what was possible for our family.
Suddenly, the things I’d always taken pride in became difficult to guarantee:
Being at work on time.
Staying until the end of the day.
Attending meetings.
Meeting deadlines without interruptions.
Being available when my colleagues needed me.
And if you’ve experienced this, you’ll know the guilt.
Another Tuesday off for an appointment. Another Thursday morning arriving late because of therapy. Another phone call explaining why you need to leave early.
It’s difficult when you’ve spent your entire career being the person everyone could rely on.
At the end of 2021, I left teaching.
Not because I’d lost my passion, but because I couldn’t give my students and my son the time they both needed.
The realisation that changed everything
For a long time, I measured my future against the teaching career I’d originally planned.
But eventually, I realised something.
My life was different now.
My son had needs I couldn’t have anticipated, and I had responsibilities that didn’t exist when I first planned my career.
And I had to accept that it was okay for my career to look different, too.
That meant giving myself permission to:
Stop measuring my future against my old career plans.
Recognise that my professional skills still had value.
Explore different ways to use my experience.
Pursue meaningful work that could accommodate my family’s needs.
I hadn’t lost my skills, ambition or drive to work. I just needed a different way to use them.
3 Things to Consider When You Can’t Return to Work
1. Plan around the time you actually have
It’s easy to tell yourself you’ll return to work when:
Your child starts school.
Their school hours increase.
Their appointments become less frequent.
Their needs become more predictable.
I’ve made those plans myself.
Last year, I was preparing for my son to increase his school hours. I’d been growing my education brand and anticipated having more time to work.
Instead, his circumstances changed, and I began homeschooling him.
My available working hours changed again.
The lesson: Don’t make your entire professional future dependent on having more time later.
Consider what you can realistically manage now, even if that’s an hour before the children wake up or a few hours spread throughout the week.
2. Your professional skills aren’t tied to your former job
When I left teaching, I didn’t lose my knowledge of curriculum, instructional design or how to communicate information clearly.
I simply couldn’t use those skills in a classroom anymore.
So I challenged myself to learn social media and content creation.
I started sharing my teaching knowledge online and eventually grew my first brand to over 6,000 Instagram followers and almost 4,000 email subscribers.
Your qualifications and experience don’t lose their value because you can no longer work in the role you trained for.
Try this: Think back to your previous career and write down:
3 skills you developed through your professional experience.
3 problems colleagues regularly came to you to solve.
1 way you could use that knowledge outside your former workplace.
You don’t need a complete business idea. Start by recognising what you already know.
3. Finding flexible work while caring for a child with a disability
There’s a difference between work that fits your current schedule and work that can adapt when your schedule changes.
A part-time job might work while your child attends school.
But what happens when:
Their school hours are reduced?
Therapy appointments increase?
A hospital admission changes your plans?
Your child needs to be homeschooled?
For me, learning to share my knowledge online meant I could continue working on my projects even when my available hours changed.
Some weeks I had hours to dedicate to content creation. Other weeks, I worked between appointments or after the boys went to bed.
It wasn’t always easy, but I had greater control over when I could give my work my attention.
Before committing to your next opportunity, ask yourself:
Can I decide when I complete the work?
What happens if I unexpectedly lose ten working hours next week?
Can I temporarily reduce my workload without losing everything I’ve worked towards?
Will the skills and resources I develop remain valuable if my circumstances change again?
The flexibility you need today might not be the flexibility you’ll need next year.
Your career can look different without being less meaningful
I don’t regret becoming a teacher.
Those years of study, experience and professional development helped me become the person I am today.
But I’ve stopped expecting my career to look the way it did before my son’s needs changed our lives.
And if you’re a mum who misses her career but can’t see how traditional employment could possibly fit around your child’s needs, I want you to remember:
You can love being a mum and still miss your professional life.
You can be grateful for what you have and still want more for yourself.
You can change your career direction without wasting the years you’ve spent developing your skills.
You can take your time figuring out what comes next.
It’s okay if your career no longer looks the way you originally planned.
Your circumstances may have changed.
That doesn’t mean your ambition has to disappear.
Hi, I’m Trudy
I’m a former teacher, medical mum and now homeschooling parent who had to rethink what a career could look like when my son’s needs changed our lives.
I share honest stories about navigating medical motherhood, finding new ways to use your professional skills and creating flexible income around unpredictable family responsibilities.
Want more?
Subscribe to follow my journey as I share what I've learnt about starting over professionally, growing a personal brand and creating an online business around real life.
Want to connect?
I’d love to hear from you. Have your child’s needs changed what your working life looks like?
Leave a comment or reply directly to this email. You can also connect with me on Instagram at @trudymayo_.
Want to build with me?
I run my online business in partnership with a skincare and wellness brand, and I mentor the women who partner alongside me.
If you’re looking to use your skills, learn social media and explore a flexible online business that can fit around your family’s responsibilities, I’d love to share how we work together.
It takes consistent effort, but you won’t be figuring everything out alone.