The Sneaky Guys

Last night Ilya lost his fourth tooth, and the sneaky guys struck again.

I'm not really sure how the mythology surrounding "the sneaky guys" evolved. All I know is that when Ilya lost his first tooth, Art said I wasn't allowed to tell him that the tooth fairy takes the tooth and leaves money. Okay, fairies are admittedly kind of queer anyway but where's the fun in just handing your kid a dollar and saying, "Okay gimme that nasty tooth so I can throw it away"?? So, perplexed as to the proper course of action, I said nothing. The next morning Ilya came running in saying some sneaky guys took his tooth and left him money!!

The next thing I know the sneaky guys all live together in a rusty water tower off Nebraska Avenue, and they use the teeth they buy for tooth necklaces. Ilya and Xander can talk about this for ages. It gets more embellishment as time goes on, and I'm more than happy to go along with it. Whenever they talk about it in front of Art I get the evil eye, but hey. I don't have a problem with kids imagining weird stuff is true so long as it isn't some pagan crap like santa or the easter bunny trying to ruin things that mean something. Kids gotta have their little imaginary worlds for awhile, don't they?

I think so.That's why I have so much fun making these little cards to go with the tooth money and sneaking them under his pillow at night. It's just so hard not to laugh watching his face when he discovers that the sneaky guys have done it again. Those silly sneakies.