Weekend Dad/Husband

[800msprint]

My DH works v long hours in London. I'm now freelance from home. We live door to door 1hr-1hr15 from his work. We're thinking of a few different options including moving further out where it costs less and using savings to buy a studio/1 bed in central so DH stays Mon-Thur then Home Fri-Sun. Has anyone else done this? Does it work? I/Kids don't see much of him during the week anyway though I'm worried doing this might be a recipe for disaster!
The other option is to stay put or actually move back to London to a smaller place but where the commute is less. We both love London but also love the countryside and unsure where best to bring up kids. The old chestnut of location/commute! Basically interested to hear about any experiences of a 'weekend Dad (or Mum)' Tx

From a kids point of view, my Dad commuted and came back on Friday nights for the weekend.

It was fine growing up for us kids but I don't know how my Mum would have coped without my Nan being around to help with school runs etc.

It got a bit difficult when he retired as every weekend was about him coming home and doing family things. We barely went out to eat as he was always eating out (different if your DH is getting a flat). When he retired, he wanted every weekday to be like a weekend and got cross when my Mum put her foot down and said it was Corrie time.

My dad worked away from when I was 3-5. Honestly I remember it being v stressful as my mum had constant panic attacks etc and it did affect my relationship with him for quite a while, but it's not the case for everyone. Many mums aren't anxious and many dads try harder at weekends (not judging parents as I'm now an anxious mum myself who really appreciates some alone time at weekends!)

With regards to us now, I'd hate my partner working away mon- thurs but it's obv different for every couple x

Thanks all - definitely good for thought. I don't get any help am or pm now anyway so it's kind of irrelevant if we're not seeing him mon- thur. I guess I'm worried by us drifting apart, but again, I can't really see the difference to how we are now!

It's not so much the lack of help tho, imo anyway, it's knowing that someone will be coming home and you'll have company/ someone to talk about your day with in person etc. It's the small kinds of thing that you prob take for granted that will become big when they're not there anymore