I had a partner that worked 4 on, 1 off, and that sucked bigtime 2 on 2 off sounds better but yeah hated the one we had. He couldn't use his mobile on site either for safety reasons on those sorts of sites, so I had to wait til the end of the day to hear from him and that was it. He wasn't the kids father but still, you miss them! However some love the lifestyle and space, and some hate it, some to extremes which can have effects. He also told me there were lots of broken relationships and even the odd suicide attempt - don't want to scare you at all - this is just the reality of it and I assume the latter wouldn't be too common, especially with the better on/off schedules. They are all different and I am sure it can work, but depends on schedule and personalities and what they enjoy!