DIY Dad, What Should You Do And Not Do

Episode 27: DIY Dad, What Should You Do And Not Do Around The House

DIY -Doing It Yourself, when should I and when should I not?

What if I do not know much?

Pick your battles. Think safety because others are depending on you.

What if I am overwhelmed and do not know where to start?

What are some of your experiences with DIY, what are some of your successes and what have you learned through this process?

I would love to connect with you on Facebook and feel free to join our group, Thriving Fatherhood, where I offer more on how to thrive in fatherhood.

Transcript

Welcome to the Thriving Fatherhood Podcast, where we are living and working in the trenches to go from surviving to thriving in this mission field called fatherhood. 

My name is Brian Knight. I am a father of three, a husband, a son, a coach, and a believer in Jesus Christ.

Today, I am going to be talking about DIY, or doing it yourself. I am one of the biggest advocates of doing it yourself. This can be a double-edged sword for dads. Sometimes it can save you a lot of money and other times you will have wished you paid some else to do it for you. 

Why I want to talk about this

How I grew up and the line of work I am in.

I have surprised myself throughout the years

What if I don’t know much: Have your own home and watch YouTube. Cars forums can be helpful.

Pick your battles – what I mean by this is what are the dangers of doing something yourself. Cars, house wiring, getting up high, chemicals, cutting things. Some things are riskier than others. You have others to think about.

Think about your financial situation. Being in my mid forties now my financial situation is better than it was 10 or 20 years ago. I recently paid to have my fence installed and Patio done, drive way widened. 

DIY can be a great way for Father and Son to spend time together.

It can also help you to bond with your son, or maybe daughter and show 

Another thing is the satisfaction of seeing your own successful work on your own home.

Let’s face it, it is ridiculous to pay someone to do everything on your home, or maybe to do everything on your home. 

Some examples of my DIYs lately are staining my fence, redoing my garage and putting up shelves, moving two households. 

If you have a lot of projects and you feel overwhelmed – write it all down, prioritize(cost, importance, ability), schedule it, consider outsourcing some of it. 

Don’t let your projects around the house take all your family, rest and relax time away. I am guilty of this, but I almost get a dopamine hit from accomplishing projects. As my pastor who restored his own pick up truck said to his wife, well it is cheaper than therapy. 

What it boils down to good price and good work, hold on to that person. 

I think a father should be both intellectual as well as physical. A good mixture of both, he should be able to do most things around the house, but may not choose to do all of them, and he should be reading and studying. Maybe we can talk about how to get all that done on another podcast. I know many of you are like when am I going to have time to do all this Brian. 

So, that is what I have for you today; if you feel this show has been valuable for you, I encourage you to share it with one other father who could gain some insight from it and wants more thriving in their lives. 

Also, I would love to hear about your experiences with DIY in fatherhood.  What were the challenges for you, what came up for you that was unexpected, what did you learn? Please share that with me in the comments below.