How to turn down a client in a phone interview

[Momof4]

I used to interview willy nilly, but I've become very picky, but I prefer emailing because I can ask a lot of questions and people have a chance to sit down and think about their answers when they are returning my email. I'm not really a phone person. Sometimes we email back and forth for a few days before I set up an interview. If they call me on the phone and leave a message I still email them instead of calling them.

I ask them to tell me about their parenting philosophies and about themselves. People love to talk about themselves. Then at the interview if I've spotted any small red flags I can ask about them. I do have to be feeling pretty confident that everything will work out between us before I interview, but I have to tell you that there have been times when I almost said no to an interview and they ended up being the best family possible. You never know, but a lot of pre-screening is still really important.

[sunnydays]

Can you tell I am stressed right now? I haven't felt so stressed before...just really don't want another problematic child or parents who think that rude,defiant behaviour is normal!