Here is just about the laziest Halloween costume I possibly could come up with: stick each kid in a pot, tape on some fake leaves, and start watering.

I’m tickled that I got away with this, since for the last three years Sam has been entirely at my mercy in terms of Halloween costumes. Let’s do a quick recap of what he’s endured:

Year One, I dressed him as Winston Churchill (an obvious choice when you’ve got a grumpy-faced 7 month old: “All babies look like me, and I look like all babies.”). 

Year Two, I dressed him as a hobbit. Because, you know, his name is Sam(wise).

Year Three, he was a Home Depot store associate, springboarding off of his obsession with the brand and the place. Also a very lazy costume. 

Cue Year Four–the dreaded year, the year in which Sam would have enough autonomy and communication skills to decide on his own Halloween costume. During dinner last week, the subject came up. I asked him, cautiously, “So, what would you like to dress up as this year?” He slowly scanned the house, pondered at length, and finally said, “A PLANT.” “A…plant?” “Yes! A plant.” I guess this is the final proof that 1) Sam has very interesting taste in everything, and 2) I really do have too many houseplants. Anyway, a few fake monstera leaves and a couple of terra cotta pots later, we had our costumes. Annie is basically an Anne Geddes baby by nature, and I don’t have to try too hard to be a crazy plant lady–I had been wearing the overalls all month long anyway. Sam capped off our backyard photoshoot with a request that I “really water him, with water” and my work for October 2017 was done.