Ok so probably no one is even gonna see this but hear me out.... Cat helmets!

So instead of nerfing creepers. I agree with the world's most hated Minecraft dev that creepers are a huge problem. No one likes them that is to say no one like dealing with the griefing. And all the way up until you have good armor they are one hit kill. That's a big no! I think something does have to be done. But why not just make it so that creeper attacks are optional?

Solution...
A Craftable cat helmet!
Creeper will see you as a cat and always run away and never explode. All other movs will still attack you and the armor itself will be the weakest in the game so there's balance and a choice to be made. Safe from creeps but at cost of armor.

How to get it?
1- tame a cat.
2- craft a brush.
3- brush your cat to get cat hair item.
4- craft 9 cat hair into cat block.
5- craft 5 cat blocks into a cat helmet.

Cats can only produce one cat hair a day.
Cat helmet has cat ears
Cat hair can be different colors depending on what cat you harvested.