This article focuses on child and adolescent fostering within transnational families whose members reside in Senegal and Austria. The analysis is based on biographical accounts, interviews and direct observation of a contextualized case. It explores the points of tension and the issues at stake in the dual socialization of these young people, concentrating on their experiences and points of view, especially the ways in which they learn and use Senegalese values such as restraint (kersa), discretion (sutura) and embellishment (rafetal). These young people are discriminated against in both Austria and Senegal. The call for future reciprocity instigated by gifts from family members causes occasional tensions. The considerable efforts put in to socialize a first-born in a transnational setting point also to their future role as head of household.