DP works shifts - one week he starts early and is home early afternoon, the next week he starts late and is home around midnight. In addition, he often works weekends.

Basically, I feel like a single parent one week out of two because I work part-time and do the dinner thing on my own for DD and DSD. Plus, we don't really get weekends. And if DP has been working lates he will often need a day nap so I'm padding around the house trying not to wake him OR DD which does my head in a bit because this is a very noisy house.

So it feels like there's no structure to our life and we don't do Monday-Friday then spend the weekend together and I'm a bit jealous of that structure and certainty.

DP has been a shiftworker all his adult life (he's a traindriver) and I thought it was just going to be something I have to suck up. But there IS another job he could do which is normal hours and we are talking about him taking that.

Have you or your partner changed from shiftwork to non-shift work and what were your experiences - good and bad? Did it change your family life/dynamic for the better or did you find it difficult to adjust?