Schwarzenegger the dude daddy

Arnold Schwarzenegger may get political sand kicked in his face by the Legislature or the labor unions, but when it comes to manliness, he's still "Mr. Big." In honor of Father's Day, the staff members of the Minneapolis Star Tribune rated a bunch of Daddy diaper bags for manliness (1 for "hand it over to Mom" and 10 for "just call me Schwarzenegger.")

If you saw Guy Keeler's Sunday Page 1 story on full-time fathers, you get it. Even in 2006 some people don't understand men who are willing to take a leave of office from the workplace to raise their kids. Well, who cares? I bet most of the mouthiest ones are just jealous and would like to be able to do it themselves. In Norway, for example, they consider it so important that parents take off time with their children that they pay most of their salaries for the first year so they'll stay home and bond with the new baby. But hey, probably even in Norway a guy carrying around a pursey-looking bag with bunnies and teddy bears on it is either completely secure or just asking for it.

So, it's America's entrepreneurs to the rescue. The Strib layout featured camouflage diaper bags and sporty-looking vests with that store diapers in the inside pockets. There's one that looks for the world like a a shoulder holster -- how cool that it that holds baby powder instead of a pistol. The writers describe these bags as functional and "humiliation free." The top-rated Schwarzenegger special is all black with a dragon on the front. It even has a place for his cell phone. a cell-phone. One reviewer said it went just a little too far and looked like gang daddy. Other bags sported camo patterns perfect for Marine Daddy. One had the Grateful Dead on the front. I'm amused by the names of the sources of these things: www.psychobabyonline.com; www.diaperdude. I'm definitely putting these on my list for every baby shower coming up.