Parker - age 10 - 5th grade

Parker is doing so well. He sets an alarm and wakes himself up every morning for school. He makes his own lunch, gets himself breakfast, and rides the bus to school. The bus picks him up (the stop is directly in front of our house) at 7. He gets home on the bus at 3. He seems to enjoy school this year. He's has 3 teachers - one for science and social studies, one for language arts, and one for math. In 5th grade they do extra classes for 2 six weeks at time. On even days they have PE and on odd days they have music/art/drama. Parker does not like to sing and is not enjoying these 12 weeks of music class. His grades were all As except for an 80 that I think his music teacher was generous in giving.

Parker has been doing mixed martial arts (MMA) since April. He goes 1-3 times/week. Caden went for awhile with him until he got too busy with 7th grade. He likes it and it is good for him to get out and do something physical on a regular basis. He is also enjoying our new neighborhood. There are quite a few kids his age and older that play outside everyday. There is another boy who is 10 like Parker and one who is 13 and those 3 are always out. They ride bikes, throw the football, explore the woods behind our house and just enjoy each other. It is such a blessing especially for him to have kids to play with after school everyday.

Parker is obsessed with football. He thinks about football all the time. He talks about football all the time. He talks about professional players he hears about at school. He talks about what is going on in college football and he talks about the future when he plans to play football. He asks what position we think he will play. He tells us what he will buy us when he is a professional football player. I told him that he can play in a tackle football league next fall if he finishes his MMA course. He's on track. Bob would like for him to wait a year or two more to play but I'm not sure we can contain his enthusiasm for the sport much longer. He and I looked up what it would cost to play with the youth league here, KYA. He is already trying to figure out how to buy or be gifted the equipment and things he will need. He knows we don't have a lot of extra money right now and he wants to make sure that doesn't factor into whether or not he gets to play football.

It really is a miracle what has taken place with him in the past few months. Getting him off SSRIs and getting him neurofeedback treatment has made all the difference in the world for him. His anxiety is completely under control and there are zero signs of the rapid-cycling (prescription drug-induced if you ask me) bipolar disorder that he was diagnosed with last year. He is back to the happy, helpful, fun-loving kid we remember. It is WONDERFUL! He is a great kid and a blessing to our family!