Arlexa: A Sensible Sitter Extraordinaire

Sitting to write this post flooded me with more emotion than I could have predicted. The subject of my sentiments is a young woman who I have had the privilege of watching grow up. I've tried this morning to recollect my first meeting with Arlexa, as I tend to categorize folks in my initial contact with them. I love first feelings and first meetings. I am most curious about everyones' stories - and I love the details I learn in that first interaction. 

Arlexa is such a part of my life and such a part of the fabric of Sensible Sitters that I don't remember a time that we didn't know her. Here's what I do know - I know that she taught me the value of Sensible Sitters. The magic of what we do is captured in the moments families experience with our caregivers. It has a little to do with our vetting process and a lot to do with the quality of character in the individual sitters. Arlexa came to us as a high school student. Eager for a summer job and living on the western most end of the Hamptons, Arlexa would drive - sometimes hours - for a honest wage and an appreciative family. As we grew and she grew up, we found increasing responsibilities for her within the organization. One summer she worked in our Amangansett office, answering phones and learning office management skills. The next few summers she was the team leader for large events that we staff annually in The Hamptons. All the while, working toward her private pilots license. This past year we hired Arlexa as a recruitment manager in our New York City. To watch someone mature within the company I built has been one of the most amazing gifts that life has given me. Not only the impact that Arlexa has had on the families shes touches but the clear impact they have had on her.

She has navigated every unique childcare arrangement possible. summer nannied. travel nannied. Visited the swedish alps with a family. Chaperoned teens, who adored her even while she was only minimally their major. she taught herself to babywear and loved on babies as only a mother can appreciate. she loved on our babies when we needed a reprieve, assuring us that she had the situation handled. she became a fabric of our lives.

Arlexa brought to our families a joy that simply put your heart at ease. I recall the day that I transitioned from a the owner of Sensible Sitters to a customer. The porch was speckled with early morning light in the home we rented in the North Fork of Long Island.  The sun was starting to sop up the puddles that Cam, then 20 months, had created from water play. I stood, quite pregnant, awaiting Arlexa's arrival. What never left her side was the bubble that she brought that day. The everlasting smile that meets her freckled cheeks from dimple to dimple. The giggles she evokes from children and the curiosity that coddles. What is absolutely incredible about Arlexa is the way that she befriends the children she works with. 

today we say "see you later" but never goodbye to a girl we will miss incredibly, as she steps out into her next frontier. Arlexa embarks on air traffic control school next week and we marinate on the gifts she has given to us over the past six years. Arlexa, we love you.