Honestly and with all due respect, show the CEO you are the manager he asked you to be. Tell him, exactly what you wrote here in this post. One by one and let him hear the words and answer you back.
If you can't meet the imposed date you need to be upfront and ASAP. Don't let missing the ship date ruin your reputation.
Your wife and kids will be fine if you need to find other work. If I were in your shoes and the face to face didn't go well I would start looking. By not going well I mean the CEO doesn't see your concerns as issues.
Thanks for the advice.
Regarding the imposed date, every single time it comes up, I push back, saying "I have not, and cannot, make a promise that we can deliver by that date." The fact that the date keeps resurfacing in our conversations tells me this person isn't listening.
"I have not, and cannot, make a promise that we can deliver by that date."
You might mean that as "I've been given 6 months. I expect to need 12 months if everything goes perfectly and there are no surprises. With surprises, 15-18 months seems realistic." but you haven't communicated that.
It's likely that the CEO is hearing "I can't guarantee six months... We'll be cutting it close." and s/he is keeping the bullseye at 6 months and expecting it to take seven. Or maybe s/he thinks that they can rein the scope back in (if necessary) with a month remaining and hit the deadline.
If you can't meet the imposed date you need to be upfront and ASAP. Don't let missing the ship date ruin your reputation.
Your wife and kids will be fine if you need to find other work. If I were in your shoes and the face to face didn't go well I would start looking. By not going well I mean the CEO doesn't see your concerns as issues.