This paper highlights the central role of social class in shaping experiences of childrearing. Drawing on material from qualitative interviews with a range of working class mothers it explores and contextualises day-to-day family practices. It examines the different ways in which parents cope with disadvantage and shows how their decisions and practices are grounded in a material and social reality. In contrast to evaluative and outcome-focused literature on parenting, it demonstrates how decisions and practices that make less sense from a middle class vantage point shift their meaning when viewed from a working class perspective. The paper illustrates how the promotion of parenting 'skills' as neutral technical tips obscures normative, culturally specific assumptions about what constitutes successful childrearing. The implications of this for health visitors' practice will be considered.