Simple solutions

I have hemmed and hawed over child-sized coat racks for months online and at Target and HomeGoods and every other store I happened across a 2x4 brightly painted and stuck with pegs. I wanted something to hang in The Boy's room, at his height, so he could put away his hats and jacket and bags himself. Closet doorknobs will only hold so much, you know. This shouldn't have been a difficult decision. But so many of them were too cutesy -- grinning zoo animals, anyone? -- and I balked at even the simple ones because they often required three or more holes in the wall. All I could think was that we would have to fill in those holes in a couple years when the coatrack was at the wrong height for my growing Boy.

As I said: Hem and haw.

Then, last weekend, after having a mental debate yet again in the home decor aisles of Target, I sighed in disgust and swung my cart around to head to the check out. And what did I nearly run into with said cart? Hooks. Blue, plastic, easily removed hooks.

The four-pack, with enough sticky tape to use them twice, cost less than $4. I slapped three of them on the wall in a straight line -- we got out the level and everything, though I didn't bother to measure between them -- and they're perfect. I like how they look, and they do exactly what I wanted them to do. The Boy can use them easily and thinks it's cool that they're at his level, so we have had fewer fights over putting things away.

The fourth one is in The Lad's room, holding his floppy sunhat, which no longer gets lost in the back of the drawer. Little things can make such a big difference.