Bill Cosby is best know for being a comic and an actor, but he is also an author.  Bill Cosby examines being a dad in his book Fatherhood, which was also made into a short-lived television show.  Here's a bit more about some of the best essays from that book:

Who Dressed this Mess?

The theme of this piece is kids that take advantage of their parents’ stupidity. Since Cosby didn’t have any knowledge of fashion, he would never know that his daughter wasn’t supposed to wear red leotards to school Also, towards the end of the piece, Cosby addresses the question whether leniency toward a young child would be better than restrictions.

This piece is very funny. It starts out with the truth of teenager girls. When walking with her father, Cosby's daughter will walk a few paces behind him. She does this because his fashion is so bad. This sets the mood for the piece. Most fathers are completely inept when it comes to clothes.

The essay then talks about how the mother has to leave instructions on how to dress the child, saying this shirt goes with this skirt. If she doesn’t, Dad will allow his children to dress any way they want, even forgoing socks or shoes.

Cosby then talks about how it might be better for the kids to let them wear whatever they want without a fight. But eventually, Cosby knows that Mom will make a right decision. Clothes don’t really matter. He ends the piece with an off topic paragraph about how he is happy when his wife is happy.

Wheeler Dealer

The theme of this piece is teenagers desperate want of freedom. In this piece, the son really needs a car. He says that he can’t get around on public transportation because that is not cool.

This piece is very true. Almost every sixteen year old thinks they are entitled to a car because it is their birthright, “Dad, all my friends say I should have my own car.” But not all understand what comes along with getting a car, “do you happen to know what a car costs?” and “more or less five thousand dollars, not counting insurance.”

Still, the teen persists, “Dad, I just have to have a car…I’ll drive it real carefully.” Dad says, no, of course. Not only does the son not have a job, but also he doesn’t do well in school. The son assures dad that he is, “creaming Driving Ed.”

The piece ends with the boy still pleading for the car. Dad says that he will have “a matching funds collection,” with the boy’s friends who insist that he needs a car. The boy ends up “with ninety-six cents.”

In Spite of Mutiny

The theme of this piece is kid’s not wanting to tell their parents when they have a problem. Cosby says that no matter what a kid did, his parents will always forgive him.

He gives an example of a girl whose parents gave her a car. The parents give her strict rules that no one but her, specifically no one who had been drinking could operate the car, “I don’t want this car to move with any hands on the steering wheel but yours.”

The girl, with the help of peer pressure, drives the car intoxicated. The police are called in. The daughter begins her excuse to her parents, “Yes, but I didn’t think.”

Cosby says that teenagers can be summed up in the words “I didn’t think.” He assures parents that all kids need is guidance through their teenage years. They will get their minds back eventually.