This article reexamines motivation in style shift via child data from Trinidad, which has a high level of socially and stylistically motivated variation. Three preschool children were examined for variation in production of Standard English and Trinidad Creole verb forms, the former being evaluated as the language of education, government and formality, the latter as the language of emotion, kinship and solidarity. It is shown that familial demands, the education system and the wider society interact to impose constraints which influence audience design.