She’s the wind beneath his super-commuter wings.
Holding down the fort, taming two toddlers and running a therapy practice all while your partner flies from Minneapolis and Manhattan for work each week is no easy lift.
But mom Megan Bearce tackled the task with superhuman-like savvy as her hubby, Ian, took the nearly 1,200-mile hike for a decade before they rejoined as a family — that’s over 521 weeks.
“‘Your husband does what?!,’ I heard this question so many times,” Bearce, a licensed marriage counselor and author, wrote in a tell-all to CNBC. “While we had a few challenges, we don’t regret our choice.”
She and Ian, a graphic designer, had just relocated from Los Angeles to the heart of Minnesota in 2010, when he scored a role as Head of Content with visual effects imprint, The Mill, in NYC.
But rather than uproot their brood, then-ages one and three, for the Big Apple, the parents opted for the hustle and bustle of super commuting.
The not-so-glamorous commitment sees 9-to-fivers ditching the comforts of their local communities and hitching rides on buses, trains and planes for big city employment.
Kyle Rice, an EMS software developer from New Castle, Delaware, travels through four states before clocking in at his offices in Manhattan’s Financial District several days a week. The 240-mile round trips cost the married father a whopping $1,500 per month.
But Upper West Side hairdresser Kaitlin Jay, 30, tells The Post that she actually saves money by catching flights from her new home of Charlotte, North Carolina to the concrete jungle on a biweekly basis.
“It’s cheaper than renting my own apartment on the Upper West Side,” said Jay, revealing she shells out just under $1,000 a month for flights, ground transportation and a room rental. “I’m coming out ahead.”
Bearce, too, kept her family out of the red while overseeing Ian’s travel expenses.
“I became extremely savvy at finding the best deals on flights, using the right credit cards to book, maximizing airline status, and racking up and leveraging miles,” bragged the blond.
She also ensured that her boo had an affordable, yet adequate roof over his head during his days away.
“We decided it’d be more economical to rent small studios or rooms for Ian to stay in during the week instead of booking hotels,” she said.
Bearce added that Ian’s temporary houses — each costing approximately $1,500 a month — were all in close proximity to subway stations, restaurants with late hours, safe and near his job.
“Over that 10-year span,” she said, “he lived in seven different apartments in Brooklyn and Manhattan.”
And when it came to the health of their relationship and family, Bearce had her finger on the pulse.
“Ian and I prioritized date nights and a yearly weekend away,” said the warrior wife, who authored tome, “Super Commuter Couples: Staying Together When a Job Keeps You Apart.”
“When we were apart,” she continued to CNBC, “we’d check in at the start of a call: ‘How are you doing? Is this a good time to talk?.’”
Bearce didn’t get bogged down by the burdens of solo parenting either.
“We were fortunate that my sister lived with us for the first five years, and my parents were only two hours away,” she said, adding that neighbors, babysitters and handymen also lent helping hands when she and the kids were in need.
“The extra support they offered me was huge, as was the quality time we all had with them.”
Ian also enjoyed quality times with his family during weekends home, their annual cruise vacations and when they came to visit him in the city.
“Getting to see dad’s life during the week helped the kids understand where he was when he was away,” Bearce recalled.
“Plus, because of the nature of his job, they got to see a working commercial set,” she chimed, “which has inspired our daughter to pursue the creative arts in college.”
The grueling nature of the super commuter grind notwithstanding, Bearce says it all worked out in the end.
“Ian got to pursue a fulfilling career. I didn’t have to rebuild my therapy practice a third time or get licensed in a new state,” she said. “Our kids learned early on about the importance of self-care and quality time with loved ones.”
“They realized that the best choice might not be the easiest one,” added the mom, “but that you have to do what works for you.”
