The goal of this study is to find salient conditions and categories of conditions that seem to be important factors in parents' control over their children's early linguistic environment. Five families in a small academic community in the U.S. Midwest were identified. One parent was a native speaker of English (L1) and the other, a native speaker of French (L2). Open ended interviews were used in an attempt to discover the conditions which seem to be necessary and those which are generally typical of families in which there is a goal of childhood bilingualism. The conditions and their interrelationships are categorized in relation to the initial decision, the source of L2, and changes which affect the implementation of the initial decision. Important conditions regarding the initial decision seem to be emotional attachment to L2 and the language spoken between the parents before the birth of their child. The presence of monolingual grandparents is an important condition for implementation and one that will change over time. Additional effects on implementation, not present at the time of the initial decision, such as birth of other children and entrance to school, may affect parental implementation of the initial decision. All the conditions can be conscious or accidental; all affect in one way or another children's acquisition of both languages. (AMH)