Miles,
You are a very handsome kitty and it sounds like you have a nice home. Tell your parents that you will be fine without your back claws. I have a cat named Sunkist that had to be totally declawed in October for medical reasons (to save his life). I was worried about how he'd take this, since he was 4-1/2 years old when this was done, but I needn't not have worried. Nothing has changed about Sunkist and he's as sweet as ever. Anyway, congratulations on being cat of the day!