This text arose out of an investigation which attempted to understand the educational practices developed in an early childhood educational institution in Florianópolis. A group of twenty children, aged between three and four years, were the subjects of the research. The study analyzes, within these educational practices, the relationships established between the adults and the children in the institution, especially in situations highlighted by the adults as "misdemeanors" committed by the children. Here I highlight the methodological route taken in this work, in order to register possibilities for research with the children that take them into account as full-grown social subjects. The relationships among the children (pairs) revealed a certain degree of complicity in the devising of strategies through which they attempted to "get round" some of the rules. These observations provide a warning and a guideline for those seeking to build a pedagogy that moves away from regulation and focuses instead, on emancipation.