Anthony is getting even worse with ripping fabric.  A couple of days ago, he ripped apart two pairs of shorts.  Today, he came home from school having ripped the shirt he had worn to school, plus an additional one in his backpack as a replacement, and his undershirt.  And, to seal the horror... he got off the bus wearing a sweatshirt supporting my alma mater's bitter rival (cue "Psycho" theme music).  Well, beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

And we could well end up beggars at the rate we're going.  As I have written in the past, we frequent a thrift shop for much of Anthony's clothing because of his relative indifference to what he wears, combined with his propensity to stain or damage things quickly.  But even then, if we're looking at $20, $30, or more every month, that will certainly start to add up.  Even more than the money involved, though--since ultimately we can divert from other expenditures to cover if that becomes necessary--is the added stress of having to replace clothing constantly.  We face the real possibility, for instance, of Anthony temporarily being without pants to wear if he keeps ripping things and the last remaining articles are in the wash.  The thrift stores we go to are not particularly close, and trips to them require planning to fit in with already very busy schedules.  And while closer big box discount stores may be on the inexpensive end for a new clothing item or two, they will often be twice or more the cost of what we would pay secondhand.

We're in one of those stretches with Anthony that seriously challenge us with regard to coming up with solutions or sufficient patience.  But maybe we need to think "outside the box".  Instead of always worrying about clothes for Anthony, perhaps there is a nudist colony that would take him off our hands....