Our three kids have bedrooms upstairs, so each child has a square wicker basket on one of the bottom three stairs. I use the baskets to catch the various items they leave around the house — brushes, books, Lego creatures, lip gloss, fast-food freebies, mail, the odd clean sock — anything that belongs in their rooms. I also try to tuck good things in there, like allowance, so they don't totally dread it when I say, "Do your stair basket," which means taking their baskets up and unloading them. The stair baskets save us all several trips. If I had to return my six-year-old's stuffed monkey to his room all the time I would have fabulous thighs and glutes, but I would waste my whole day running up and down stairs.
VERONICA LORSON FOWLER, 41, AMES, IOWA