Maintenance Man

Have you ever noticed that good maintenance men are all really laid back?
They smile, they get things done, they never ever seem to hurry.
I think that might be what I want to be when I grow up.
I love maintenance man day.
It has to start with at least one project that requires a trip to the hardware store. Could be as simple as needing a furnace filter (like today) or as complex as needing wood to build roof trusses. The hardware store is a magical place when you're not in a hurry. Even if you know what you need it's good to start at one end and work your way to the other. Never let people help you find something on the first pass. Explore. I bet you didn't know they had replacement screw on wooden table legs in a variety of lengths, did you? Sure, they might not match the three good ones still on there but it'll get your through your next family get together. Chain is so cool and there are so many types. I've legitimately had to buy some to hang swings with before but there are about 18 different types I haven't needed. I need to come up with a project that needs chain. All of the PVC fittings and valves and pipes. I just need one valve and one elbow. Don't want too many spares around the garage or I won't need to come back. Electrical stuff, junction boxes, switches, wire ties. Furnace filter, need that. Just get one. I'll need another one in 90 days the label says. That's probably overkill but...... who am I to argue, I'll have to come back in 3 months at the latest. That was a fun hour.
All homeowners have to deal with the little maintenance tasks. Replacing furnace filters for example. It's too small a job to ever contemplate paying anyone to do it. When you have a job you have to stop at the hardware store outside work time, you have to hurry because there is always something you should be doing other than scoping out all of the different kinds of chain. (people think you're weird if you spend too much time contemplating chain) Head back home, put the filter in and you're done. On to the next thing. That's not fun. It's a chore. That's like a job after your job.
When you don't have a job and can drop into full maintenance man mode, the flow of the task is so much better. You start with the hour at the hardware store. You get home, have a drink. Unwrap the filter, inspect it for a bit, wonder why this paper filter is worth $16 when another paper filter that looked about the same was $4. It's rated much better. Check the label, MPI of 1500. Go to the computer and look up Microparticle Performance Rating. Decide that a MPI of 1500 is pretty good and that maybe $16 was an ok deal. Take the old filter out. Examine it. Compare it to the new one. Maybe take a picture of them side by side to post on the internet. Put the new filter in. Contemplate brushing the dust off the grate, it's pretty dusty. Decide that the dust will fall on a pile of things you don't want to clean up first. Decide to brush the dust off in 90 days. 
That didn't really take very long. Well, aside from the hour in the hardware store. But it's the mindset, the vibe of the job that changes it from being a chore to being joy.
You wear a lot of hats as a stay at home dad. All of those separate tasks require a little something different from your soul. You need to be a slightly different person when you're feeding warmed breast milk to an eight week old baby than when you're mucking around the yard in rubber boots, in the rain, trying to figure out why poop is coming out of the septic tank instead of staying in. Part of the trick is to not wish away your task dreaming of doing something else. Find the joy in each little job.