I'm odd one out. I only interview during dc hours. I want to see how their child acts around my current group. I guess I'm lucky because I have had only one child misbehave during a meeting and it actually worked out okay because it also enabled the mom to see me in action. As far as strangers, it's no different to me than play groups, playgrounds, library story times etc. do what works for you! I personally only interview out of work hours if the parent can't come during the day. I do enough dc stuff outside of hours that for me, I choose to interview during dc hours and it works beautifully for me.

My deposit is also non-refundable and they sign a paper agreeing to this. Hope you fill your spot soon!