I have a 9, 6, 3.5 and one on the way. My schedule for the most part has been 8-10 hrs on the day job, coming home for dinner and night rituals about 2-3 hours. On most week days I go upstairs when the kids have gone to bed and work another 1-3 hours on a range of things: Sometimes its finishing off stuff at work, most times it's own projects and learning. Thankfully wife uses this time sometimes to catch up on sewing projects, school grading so we're able to sit together. It's not ideal as we actually want to spend the time together but we do our best to just leave work alone and be with each other sometimes. We also try to prioritize when something needs to be done talked about/discussed. Another thing is we agreed I can use most week nights to work on my side project I am trying to bootstrap. We agreed it's a sacrifice we're willing to make for the time being. I think you have to be willing to experiment try and see what works for your relationship and family. I admit I'm not the best for getting 6-8 hours a night of sleep but average about 6hrs. I always remind myself to enjoy my family because I can now. Life is such that we can never tell what's coming around the corner. I don't want to regret anything looking back so I do my best to tell my wife and kids how much I love them. Kiss my kids often and try to pursue the dream in my heart about the side project. It's a lot and seems like a tall order but in the grand scheme of things it's a number of key decisions and choices each day.