What makes a guy a family man? With the help of some other family men-young and old-I put together this list of traits. You might be a family man if:

. . .your idea of a night out on the town is purchasing a few items at Costco and eating a slice of pizza in the food court;

. . .you have an SUV, and it's parked in the driveway because your garage is full of your kids' toys;

. . .you can identify a crinkle cutter;

. . .you check out other people's baby strollers instead of checking out women;

. . .you have no problem carrying your wife's purse;

. . .you go to bed no later than 9 p.m. on a Friday night;

. . .all the parties you attend have jumpers;

. . .you find yourself humming tunes from "Sesame Street" or the Noggin channel;

. . .you carry baby toys and sippy

. . .you end up on the Ann Taylor couch on a regular basis, waiting for your wife to finish up in the dressing room;

. . .your idea of driving fast is two miles over the speed limit;

. . .you have several bruises on your body because your kid threw toys at you;

. . .you say, "Yes, dear" more than 20 times a day;

. . .your idea of going out is taking your kid on a play date;

. . .you spend your Saturdays at soccer or ballet practice rather than the track or Dodger Stadium.

. . .you've actually said, "You will sit here until you finish your broccoli;"

. . .all the cool stuff you had as a bachelor is now packed away in the garage;

...you know peace and quiet mean something is wrong;

. . .you bring your own food and drinks to Dodger Stadium because you're too cheap to buy snacks at the park;

...a Dodger Stadium visit doesn't last more than three innings because your wife and kid are bored and want to go home; . . .you and your wife talk in code because your kid's ears are too sensitive to certain conversations;

. . .you ask your friends and family to childproof their homes before you'll go there;

. . .your idea of tricking out your car is sticking those stick figures on the back window to represent the members of your family;

. . .you try to explain to your son the difference between men and women, and realize you don't understand the difference, either;

. . .you know if a phone call from your college-age kid begins with "Hi, Mom, let me talk to Dad," it will cost you more than your weekly salary;

. . .you go to sleep on New Year's Eve no later than 9;

. . .you go trick-or-treating with your kid on Halloween and you're trusting enough to leave a big bowl of candy on the doorstep with a sign saying "Take one piece only;"

. . .you love and dread the holidays all at the same time.

Sure, the lifestyle described above might sound tough. But when your kid wraps his arms around you, or your wife comes to your rescue in hard times, there's nothing better than being a family man.

If you have more family man traits to share, send an e-mail to pic@theacorn.com.