Sergei and Oleg were waiting impatiently at the school gate, waiting for their daughter, who had been brought by the school bus after classes. They were not the most experienced parents and were a little nervous, trying to think of something interesting to say to her.

"Hi, monkey!" Oleg exclaimed when his daughter approached the gate. He tried to smile as sincerely as possible, but his smile was a little scared.

"How was your day?" Sergei added, trying to pick up the conversation. He stood a little closer to the gate, adjusted the collar of his daughter's jacket and tried to look natural, although inside he felt doubts overcoming him.

They all started walking home together. Sergei and Oleg were a little hesitant in talking about other topics, feeling the tension in the air. They wanted to ask their daughter questions about school, friends, but they did not want to seem intrusive. Sergey even tried to squeeze out a joke, but it came out somehow unnatural:

"Hey, why can't elephants hide?" - He asked, trying to ease the tension. His daughter looked at him curiously, not expecting anything good.

The girl immediately understood that the joke would be bad, but she still couldn't help but ask.

• Why? - she asked, not knowing what to expect.

• Because they always leave traces! - Sergei answered, looking very pleased with his joke. There was silence for a second. Oleg and the girl exchanged glances, feeling embarrassed and laughing at the same time.

Even after so many years, they felt insecure and a little uncomfortable in the role of parents, although they tried to fix it.