Parent University (because kids don't come with directions)

 
Raise your hand if you felt stumped or overwhelmed when you arrived home from the hospital with baby in arms. Of course we all did: They don't come with directions!

But until this week, I for one had never heard of Parent University, a concept involving seminars and conferences for parents. (Google turns up 167,000,000 references to the term.)
 
I'm not sure when the first one came to be, or who came up with the clever name, but at the moment, Parent Universities exist (unrelated to one another as far as I can tell) in Savannah, Minneapolis, New Haven, Boston, Chicago, Fresno, Tampa, Scottsdale, Reno and a whole lot of other USA places. (Comment here if you know of more.)

I get my first initiation at one tomorrow, here in Castro Valley, California where I am visiting. I'll be manning a table and passing out tips on raising reluctant learners, as well as selling my books, including Jump-Starting Boys:

Parent University, Castro Valley Adult & Career Education3rd Annual Parenting ConferenceStrategies and Resources for Raising Successful ChildrenCastro Valley Adult and Career Center4430 Alma Ave.Castro Valley, CA 94546[image error](510) 886-1000http://www.cv.k12.ca.us/news/ParentUn...http://www.cvadult.org/courses/parent...
Hats off to all who organize and participate in these educational efforts. As parents, we need all the help we can get!