This article compares the child rearing practices of a Nunga (Aboriginal) family with a Anglo-Saxon family. The differences in child rearing practices are encapsulated in what happened at a picnic outing attended by Dorothy, a Nunga mother and her children, and Ann, an Anglo-Saxon mother and her children. The article is drawn from a larger comparative, ethnographic study examining the implications of different ways of child rearing for children as they adapt to life in classrooms. In summary the Aboriginal children in Dorothy's family were encouraged to be independent, self-regulating and self-reliant. They were expected to look after their younger kin. Dorothy relied on some overt techniques for disciplining her children as well as indirect techniques such as selective attention, non-intervention, modelling and loaded conversation. In addition teasing and scaring were a means of helping the children to become emotionally resilient, in order to prepare them for the exploitation and racism that she anticipated they would encounter. The authors point out that Aboriginal child rearing practices are different from those of Anglo-Australians and are seen in a negative light by many non-Aboriginal authorities, often with devastating results.