I've applied to an agency to be a home daycare provider for them. They have a policy that there can be no smoking, at any time (even outside daycare hours), anywhere on the property. The only smoker in the household is my elderly mother who we invited to live with us a year ago. She smokes on the front porch. Never in the house, and never in the backyard where the daycare kids play. There is even a separate entrance for the daycare (side of house) so that they would not have to walk through a cloud of smoke to access the daycare. My DH, who is militant anti-smoking, thinks that the agency's requirement (no smoking on property, at ANY time EVER is unreasonable. Do any providers here have a smoker in the home, and what do your clients/licensing require or accept?

Also, they want each of my references to fill out a sheet of questions about me. I'm really concerned that they (my references) will ditch me if presented with this homework assignment. They aren't friends or family, they are former employers and supervisors and really owe me nothing. They also each work long hours and have families at home to take care of at the end of the day and probably don't want anything added to their workload. I said to the agency person interviewing me, "Oh, I thought you would only be calling them." and she said that she would be doing that as well. Holy overkill much? Does this seem odd to anyone else?

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