DEAR HARRIETTE: I recently went to goat yoga, and it was a horrible experience.
I had seen so many cute videos online of people doing yoga with baby goats climbing on their backs, and I thought it would be a fun and relaxing way to spend a Saturday with some friends. Instead, it felt chaotic from the moment we arrived. The goats were going wild and defecating everywhere.
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I feel horrible because I was the one who begged my friends to go with me, and they told me early on that this wasn’t a good idea. Instead of focusing on yoga, everyone spent the class watching where they stepped and trying to avoid getting knocked over. My friends have mostly laughed it off, but I can’t stop feeling embarrassed.
Part of me wants to contact the company and explain how disorganized and unsanitary the event felt. Another part of me wonders whether I should simply accept that this is the risk you take when animals are involved.
More than anything, I can’t seem to get over the embarrassment of being the person who pushed for this outing in the first place. Am I overreacting, or is it reasonable to feel upset about how the event turned out? And how do I stop beating myself up for convincing my friends to come along?
— Goat Yoga Gone Wrong
DEAR GOAT YOGA GONE WRONG: Forgive yourself for making a mistake and convincing your friends to jump on a trend. (No disrespect to those who have goat yoga businesses, but …)
Contact the establishment and lodge a complaint about hygiene and safety. Then let it go. Your friends know you didn’t create the chaos. They have moved on; you should, too.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I feel horrible that one of my students is going to have to repeat second grade.
It feels like I failed him, and I don’t want him to be embarrassed that next year he will see all his friends going to third grade while he remains in second grade.
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I tried so hard to help him get the grades that he needed to pass, but unfortunately, he wasn’t grasping the concepts we were learning, and I didn’t want to pass him through just for the sake of it. All year, I spent extra time working with him one-on-one, communicated regularly with his parents and looked for different ways to teach the material when the traditional methods did not seem to be working.
Even though I know academically he is not ready for the next grade level, emotionally I am struggling with the decision. Part of me wonders whether keeping him back is truly in his best interest or if it will create challenges that outweigh the academic benefits.
I became a teacher because I wanted to help children succeed, and this feels like one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to be part of. How do I deal with the guilt of feeling like a failure of a teacher?
— Failing Student
DEAR FAILING STUDENT: Passing a child who is unprepared may be the cruelest act of all. You did the right thing.
This child should be tested to evaluate his learning capacity. He may need a different school that can better help him. If he stays at his current school, he will have to make new friends, but hopefully he will thrive academically. It could be bumpy socially, but being able to learn at capacity is more important.
Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to [email protected] or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
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