Ask HN: Returning to a programming career after years of management and a family

I’m a software engineer by training who about 15 years ago moved first to project management and then to engineering management, and would now like to return to a technical career as a programmer, because that’s where my passion lies (another way to put it is that I’m sick of management and would like to code which I love). However I haven’t coded much at work during the time I’ve been a manager, and while I’ve tried to keep at it with personal projects, I can’t claim a strong recent experience. On top of that, I have a family and a young son to whom I devote most of my free time (which at the moment isn’t much because I work long days) and my wife is unemployed.

I know that I should start some project of my own, build something, take part in a OSS project and so forth, but the financial pressure and time demands of having a family prevent me from doing so. I basically have free time in chunks of 15 minutes at a time before I’m interrupted, which is barely enough to decide what I’m going to work on next. Also, I’m in my mid forties and are worried that even if I manage to switch, I’ll be the weird grampa in the office.

I’d like to hear from people with a similar background who went through a transition like the one I’m contemplating, what worked and what didn’t for them. Or general advice people might have. Thanks in advance!