Families all across Berks County will celebrate their dads on Father’s Day, June 17, thanking them for their ongoing love and support. Berks County Living is recognizing two special dads who have chosen to be stay-at-home parents. They are part of a growing demographic of full-time fathers who make up 20 percent of the population of parents who don’t work outside the home. While these local dads chose this challenging, yet rewarding, role under different circumstances, they share the same reason for taking this path: family comes first. Read more about their unique stories.
Mike Myers
Improving their family’s quality of life led Boyertown residents Mike and Christin Myers to make the decision for Mike to stay home full-time with their children.
“Family time is one of the reasons I wanted to stay home and focus on us,” says Mike, father of Lily, 11, and Evan, 8.
Like other working families, the Myers had a hectic schedule and always felt like they were racing to get everyone from point A to point B.
“We were happy but stressed,” Mike recalls. “We wanted to create more happiness and less stress.”
After years of discussing the possibility of Mike staying home, the Myers decided that the pros outweighed the cons and made the leap to being a single-income family.
“Christin had better career opportunities ahead of her,” explains Mike of his wife, who is the chief operating officer for Combined Resource Solutions in Exton and an independent motivational speaker (christinsmithmyers.com).
Mike had been working for his family’s landscaping and construction business. With his job being seasonal, Mike had a taste of being a stay-at-home parent over the winter months.
“This gave me plenty of time to make sure that the role change would be a good fit and made the transition into full-time parenting much easier,” Mike says.
Today, two years after becoming a stay-at-home dad, Mike is thriving in his role. He cooks, cleans, grocery shops, does the laundry, helps the children with homework, manages everyone’s schedule, fixes things around the house, and maintains a garden in the spring and summer.
“I stay surprisingly busy,” he reveals. “I wear a lot of hats.”
“He keeps us organized,” adds Lily, who appreciates the less-chaotic schedule.
Mike, Lily and Evan enjoy listening to music, watching movies and going to local parks, the Boyertown Library, The Book Nook and Jake’s Flea Market.
The kids are looking forward to summer break, when they will have even more time to spend with their dad. “I think we’ll do some pretty cool stuff,” Evan predicts.
Most importantly, everyone has more quality time as a family, Mike says. The family spends their evenings together eating dinner, relaxing and playing games.
“Although we certainly have our ups and downs, I make sure we’re connecting and focusing on family time,” Mike says.
Being at home also affords Mike the opportunity to pursue his other passion: photography. He runs Steadfast Imaging (steadfastimaging.com) and specializes in taking floral and horticultural photographs.
“I feel that I am laying the foundation for a long-term entrepreneurial opportunity,” says Mike, who has a fine arts degree from Antonelli Institute of Graphic Design & Photography. “As Lily and Evan get older and don't rely on me as much, I hope to be able to put even more time and energy into it.”
Mike offers some advice for dads – and moms too – who want to stay home full-time with their kids.
“Regardless of whether you are staying home by choice or out of necessity, you should try to bring love and happiness into your family. It's hard to do, but it makes a big difference. You’re going to have a lot of responsibilities, but you have to make sure your family always comes first.”
Long before Andrew Olree was married with children, he would joke with his now-wife Marybeth that he was going to stay at home full-time when they started a family.
“She would tell me ‘no,’” laughs Andrew, who has been with Marybeth since they were teenagers. Andrew graduated from Exeter Township High School, and Marybeth graduated from Central Catholic. The two sweethearts tied the knot years later in 2007.
In 2013, the couple was preparing for the arrival of their first child, Andrew Junior, or A.J. As fate would have it, Andrew was about to be laid off from a graphic design position.
“Instead of looking for another job, we decided that I would stay home instead,” shares Andrew, one of six siblings. “I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. My mom stayed home with us, and I wanted to stay home with my kids.”
Andrew and Marybeth spent the first three months at home with A.J. “It was fun to figure everything out together,” he remembers. “I was nervous when she went back to work. It was definitely a learning curve for me.”
The couple welcomed their second child, Scarlett, in 2016.
“It’s different having two kids,” says Andrew of his days with an energetic preschooler and toddler. “I’m constantly busy.”
With two kids in tow, Andrew goes shopping, runs errands, and goes to parks and museums. At home, he cooks, cleans and teaches the kids sign language, reading, writing and shapes. He and the kids enjoy doing puzzles and arts and crafts, activities that Andrew relished with his mother and grandmother.
“Our kids are happy, safe and loved, and I’m so thankful every single day that they are home with Andrew while I am at work,” says Marybeth, who is a CPA at Herbein + Company, Inc. “I call him ‘Super Dad.’ He is the most caring and loving father. I couldn’t ask for a better dad for our two children.”
“There’s nothing more important to me than her opinion,” says Andrew of his wife’s praises. “Her support and willingness to do this is amazing. I certainly don’t take this for granted.”
In the spring and fall, Andrew is the high school volleyball coach for the boys’ team at Wilson High School and the girls’ team at Hempfield High School in Lancaster. “It’s a break, but in a different way,” laughs Andrew on spending his evening with teenagers.
Andrew says the No. 1 quality for being a successful stay-at-home parent is patience.
“If you don’t have patience, you can’t do this job. It’s definitely the hardest job I’ve ever done, but it’s the most rewarding.”
This stay-at-home dad hopes A.J. and Scarlett will look back on their childhood with him and appreciate his labor of love.
“Hopefully, they will look back like I did and be thankful. I hope they are proud and happy that we were able to do this,” Andrew beams.
