We begin to talk about parental violence against children only when this violence goes beyond all boundaries and the case comes to court. In other cases, a belt in mom’s or dad’s hands is often perceived as the norm, because supposedly one cannot do without it. One day I witnessed one of the completely “normal” scenes of upbringing. Ira and Olezhka go to second grade together and sit at the same desk. Every day they go to classes in a neighboring village by school bus. And Oleg and Ira are cousins. And now they simply cannot imagine their existence without each other. The guys are studying in the second shift. When Irishka wakes up in the morning, there is no one at home: mom and dad go to the farm very early, his older brother is already at school. Somehow Ira got bored doing her homework alone. So she quickly packed her briefcase, grabbed her school uniform and ran to Olezhka. His mother is always at home in the morning, which means she will help him do his homework. The morning turned out to be warm and sunny. The children quickly completed their homework and ran outside. But is it possible not to get dirty there? Olezhka’s mother had to fill a large basin of water so that they could wash each other off. As soon as the fun swimming ended, Ira’s mother appeared. She was angry with her daughter for leaving home without permission, and immediately rushed to hit the girl in the face and head. From the woman’s enraged lips came words that could only apply to an adult whore, but not to an eight-year-old child. And the mother also threatened to tell her father about everything so that he would “drunkly deal with his daughter.” Ira and Oleg became silent. It was as if the former joy had never existed. Fortunately, the conflict was resolved. Olezhka’s mother and I defended poor Irishka as best we could. Only those bad words that the children had to hear that morning could not get out of my head. Are they really the norm too? Then why are we surprised when our children include such “normal” expressions in their vocabulary? And is it right that our adult “norms” give us the right to simply take away a child’s morning, which will never be so special again?.