Let your child have his original face. It may create fear in you, it may create concern in you, but those are your problems. Don’t in any way inhibit the child. And a child who has been given freedom — even against his own parents — will respect you forever, will remain grateful to you forever. Right now, just the opposite is the case: every child is full of anger, rage, hatred for the parents, because what they have done to him is unforgivable. So by giving freedom, by allowing the child to be himself whatever that means, accepting him in his natural self wherever it leads, you are creating a child who will worship you. You have been not only ordinary fathers and mothers, you have been givers of life, freedom, uniqueness.
He will carry the beautiful memory in his heart forever, and his gratitude towards you will make him absolutely certain that what has been done for him, he has to do for the future generations. If every generation behaves towards the children with love and respect, and gives them freedom to grow, all this nonsense of the generation gap will disappear. If you respect your children, if you are friends to your children, no generation gap is possible. Ordinarily what is happening around the world is, there is no communication between the children and the parents. They kiss each other, they shake hands, but it is all hypocrisy — done because it has to be done.
