I work 2nd shift, it's not that bad, but i have a 19 month old. I can relate to the working from home thing too, my wife works here are the house.
The good thing is that you would/should still be able to eat dinner with your family, that makes it better than a typical 2nd shift job. If you start at 5pm that means you still get some time with the kids before work . . . it's not like u got a long commute But the family needs to realize that when you are working that you are technically "At work" and cannot be bothered, this many times this is kinda hard to adjust too.
Another possitive could also that you can eat lunch with the kids or pick them up from school, if it's something they want as well. And in the summer lack of kids time isn't really an issue.
Of course none of this is taking into account what your wife does.
Good luck with what ever choice you make.
On Edit: just read that there would be alot of down time. If it were me I'd look for where to sign up, it sure beats leaving home for honda at 3pm and rolling back home at 2am