It's ok to have a job on your resume that says:

Company: Independent Consultant

Role: [X] Consulting for Multiple Clients

Dates: Year last worked elsewhere - Present

Then just have one bullet point that says, "Needed scheduling flexibility to take care of some personal matters, so I worked as an [independent consultant] for a year."

If you don't have any side work during your time off, just have a bullet point under your last job (very last bullet point) that says "Needed scheduling flexibility to take care of personal family matters, which is why I left this role."

No one will ask about the personal matters, and you can just handwave it away as "Some family items that needed to be sorted out" if they do. That way, you don't have to explain why you took a break in the rat race, and you can phrase it as "but now I'm ready to jump back into a full-time position in the area I'm most experienced in and enjoy the most." Don't feel the need to over-compensate for the gap -- people value simplicity and like it when people are straightforward, and they don't like overdone bullet points or long-winded explantations by phone. 10 seconds or less during the interview, move on, excited and ready for the new gig.