It was so cold, my teeth hurt.

That's how outside play in January feels, in spite of a winterless kind of winter that feels more like a chilly October, most of the time. With the howling wind on a treeless, flat, Illinois landscape, little fingers and noses freeze right up.

So life without a car pretty much sucks in January, even a mild one. Still a half hour running at the playground beats a half hour screaming at the kids to stop eating dog food or stop playing in the toilet or stop hitting each with wooden blocks.

Now you know why a survey from last year indicates moms still want an SUV, dammit. It's hard to consider global warming when you're about to go nuclear on your kids.