My heart goes out to you, Privatearms. But don't let your dream become a nightmare of marital/family discord. You may have to put off your dream of living aboard for a few years, even decades. In the meantime, you can sail locally, even sail to far-off lands on other people's boats while your family is safe and sound on shore. Eventually, your wife may decide to join the fun.
In many sailing clubs, some wives rarely set foot aboard, but they enjoy the social side of the club's activities. Sometimes, as others have stated here, they not only come aboard, they become obsessed with sailing.
The book suggested by Sailingdog is excellent, as is the advise of CruisingDad and others. My advise is to take it REALLY, REALLY slow. Your wife is probably ok with you having a sailing hobby, and the kids will probably love the idea of sailing. But if you push the liveaboard idea, and it becomes a wedge between you and your wife, you will not like the outcome. Don't ask me how I know this.
