Hey dude,
I think I understand a bit about what you're going through. Before I tell you what I think, first a disclaimer. I trade stocks in my spare time, been at it since early 2000

Used to lose big, now do better but I'm not consistently profitable. I think I'm on the right track but have no numbers to prove it. Really I don't know what I'm talking about.
You might've heard the saying: "scared money can't trade". From my own experience it's true, the more scared I get the more I lost. Read some good trading books and you'll see a lot of stories about spetacular losses when people trade in fear, or when they are going through a tough time in their lives. Speaking of books, I highly recommend Market Wizards and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. What I learned from those books really helped turn a corner.
It sounds like you're in a situation where you NEED to squeeze a certain amount of money out of the market. I don't think the market will oblige. With $25k capital, you're on the cutting edge of pattern day trader eligibility, one small draw down and you're out of the game.
$25k daytrading with 4x leverage, if you make 2%/week, assuming you with draw all profits that's $100k income a year. That's more than twice the average household income in the US. Is that just barely enough for the lifestyle you want? Maybe you have a problem with overly high expectations in the household. 2%/week sustained is 170% gain per year. That's trading superstar performance, according to Market Wizards. It's been done before, but very difficult to be consistently at that level.
If you're well paid in your job already, why not just cut back in the hours and money and spend more time with the family? If your wife demands more of your time but no change in the money you earn, well the problem is not you.