Own work in new construction - what makes sense and is feasible?

At some of my construction sites, the builders already had children, for example, and imagined that the little ones would play outside in the sand while mom and dad worked. Of course, that didn't work out.

We had a defining experience: During the construction (with a general contractor, mind you), there was at some point in the plan a weekend before the utility room’s equipment was installed, where it was noted that on that day we could do the plaster painting in the utility room as a DIY job, so that it would be white behind the heater and so on.
Said and done. We rushed to the construction site on a Saturday with materials and our nearly one-year-old child. The car was full of stuff; we had hoped the little one would keep busy by himself with toys, like at home, and we could paint.
Holy crap. The child had ZERO interest in the surroundings. Cold, bare, unfamiliar – just crying. One of us was practically babysitting all the time, the usually so calm child couldn’t be soothed by anything, and the other one was painting rather poorly, just trying to get done quickly because we wanted to go home with the kid. That was our first and last DIY job on that build and a few extremely stressful hours. After that day, we subcontracted the "painting work" to a professional. :D

We had a bit of a key experience: During the construction (with a general contractor, mind you) there was at some point in the plan a weekend before the technology was set up in the utility room, where it said that on that day we could paint the plaster in the utility room ourselves, so it would be white behind the heater and so on. Said and done. We sped to the construction site on a Saturday with materials and our nearly one-year-old child. The car was full of stuff, we had hoped the little one would keep busy with toys on his own like at home and we could paint. Holy shit. The child had ZERO interest in the surroundings. Cold, bare, unfamiliar – just screaming. One of us was basically babysitting the whole time, the usually so calm child couldn’t be soothed with anything, and the other painted there more badly than well, just wanting to finish quickly because we wanted to go home with the child. That was our first and last self-contribution in this build and a few extremely stressful hours. After that day we handed over the "painting work" trade to a craftsman. :D

Now that I'm a father myself, I can understand you 100%. It just doesn't work. It's dangerous on top of that! Since the little one has been here, I can't get anything done anymore :D Building a house would be impossible.

Building a house would be impossible.

how did we and many others manage that with only 2 kids? :p (just kidding :D)

how did we and many others manage that with only 2 children? :p

Grandparents. Siblings - whoever was available as a family babysitter during the era of the housewife marriage.

how did we and many others manage with only 2 children? :p

It all works, but with the scope of my own effort I would have needed twice as long. Also, it's a pity for the children if you only see them on Sundays for 2 years.

Client assistance in masonry work of the shell construction - what do I have to be able to do? Carrying, the rest is done by the professional.

That probably only works with a single contract.

We are building turnkey with a general contractor, they probably would have laughed at us if we had suggested carrying as our own work contribution.

Why? Because they themselves didn’t carry anything either. The bricks were delivered and placed on the foundation slab as precisely as possible so that the pallet was sufficient for the respective area.

Even the electrician had a subcontractor himself who was responsible for chasing.

And this goes through all trades.

The only thing we can do, because of professional experience, is plastering and painting, and that wasn’t included anyway.

And honestly, I also don’t feel like organizing people who can also drop out (just like we can) and then you’re left hanging...

I think it’s great if it works out for others. But it’s not only about being physically fit or having the motivation.