I've been working from home for ten years now. You do need a separate place. Close the door, if necessary. Mine is now upstairs. I will have a place eventually above the garage we're rebuilding. That will be nice.
We only have one kid and she's now 4, which is old enough to recognize barriers. But it can still be hard. I've set up a little desk next to mine up here. We have one of those small TV-VCR combos up here for emergencies (I hate to use it). She has drawing supplies and games.
Regardless, sometimes if school is closed or she's sick, there's a bed up here too, I can work smoothly. Other times, I don't get much done. And really, she's more important.
As for trading, at this time in our lives, my trading comes secondary to family. This has been frustrating as I've really felt some of my observations have been in the day time frame. But I simply cannot trade that way right now. I've also been frustrated because I essentially miss the last hour of the day to pick up my daughter from preschool.
This is where setting your value and reminding yourself of that value is so important. In two years, my daughter will be in school for all intents and purposes, the whole trading day. (We're on the west coast.) We've decided that preschool is good for her, but that she really doesn't need to be there all day. I get the afternoons with her. Yesterday, I took her to ballet, and then to the library for an Irish Step Dance performance. She loved it.
I'll have plenty of time to trade in the coming years. And as I get more experience, and learn when not to trade, I'm more and more confident, that I'll actually have money to trade with.
There are to things to realize in my situation... my wife is the primary breadwinner, and I am essentially a swing trader. I don't have the pressure of supporting our family and my trading style is not dependent on constant concentration. Have you thought of changing your time frame? On the other hand, if you're the primary wage earner, then setting up a separate office either in the home or out of the home, is not selfish.
André