School opened today despite the pandemic. I cried when I left my daughter at the curb.
The red and white tape that resembled the scene of a murder guided me to a place to leave my fifth grade daughter, far from the school...
top of page
Amy Aves Challenger
Apr 15, 20204 min read
Do You Feel Like An Outsider During This Pandemic? So Does My Neighbor (I Think)
While I pick dandelions and wild garlic with my preteen daughter to cook for dinner, our Swiss neighbor polishes his driveway, or maybe...
110 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Feb 28, 20204 min read
How To Curb Coronavirus Anxiety and Help Your Family Stay Healthy
I hope these ideas help others too, while living in the midst of that horrible word pandemic:
168 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Feb 6, 20204 min read
When My Son Asked “Why’d You Even Have Kids Mom?” Here’s What I Wanted To Tell Him.
...maybe we have our children to actively join the question of existing, to struggle, and then identify the beauty of small triumphs, beyon
60 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Oct 3, 20193 min read
When Motherhood Hurts, Feed Yourself
Recently I’ve had a lot of trouble in my life, and if you’re anywhere near my age, you probably can relate. Stuff happens. Kids get hurt...
122 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
May 2, 20194 min read
Lessons from Dandelions and Refugees
©Illustration by Amy Aves Challenger Already this year, the dandelions spread their way across the fields around my new home, painting...
65 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Nov 22, 20182 min read
Because of You Child, I Will Always Give Thanks
Twelve years ago I reclined in a hospital bed on Thanksgiving day with a catheter attached to my lower half. My water had broken, and my...
106 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Sep 3, 20184 min read
We Are Not Alone
You’re not alone. I want to say this to the mom who dares to tell me that she’s completely disorganized, that it feels like she’s not...
74 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Aug 17, 20183 min read
Why Does Life Have To Go On So Quickly, Despite The Hard Stuff?
Those people who suffer— they’re the salt of this ocean and tree covered place. They’re the chance to find a purpose, to witness what’s so s
95 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Aug 15, 20183 min read
May This Day Be A Happy "First" For All Children
Think and pray and hope for every single child’s first day today and tomorrow. Think of every child's chance to learn, to live, to do so
53 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Jul 14, 20183 min read
Quieting My Brutal, Relentless Inner Critic
I’m wordless sometimes. I know—it’s hard to believe:) But some days I wonder how a word could possibly come from me that would matter to...
44 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Jul 4, 20183 min read
When People (and Pets) Leave Us
Look what each of us is given— a chance in the other. A chance to learn, to be nutty, to get messy, to get hurt, to grow.
93 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Jun 17, 20184 min read
How My Dad Slayed The Stigma of Alzheimer’s While Traveling To Europe
Isn't it funny? I see his strength and tenacity more as he fights his disease than I could see during his years of health. And so this f
152 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Jun 11, 20184 min read
Oh No, Here Comes THAT Mom
That mom. She’s thinner, cooler, has more friends. She’s got better-behaved kids, a husband that loves her more, a better home
114 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Jun 8, 20183 min read
Lots of People With Depression Look "Just Fine"
“She looks fine to me,” another mom said. I was talking about someone whom we both knew suffers with severe depression. “Depression looks...
63 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
May 30, 20183 min read
What If My Child Didn’t Have…
We need the vulnerable ones to unglue us from our selfies, our cliques, our over-packed agendas, our power-driven races to one more race.
89 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Apr 28, 20183 min read
Finding Peace— Anywhere
I once thought that I needed a place like Zürich, Switzerland or Marin County, California to find peace. I had to have beauty like you...
36 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Apr 25, 20184 min read
Lessons Learned From An SUV Sliding From A Sierra Cliff
It was dark, and I was driving alone up a steep incline on the side of a Sierra mountain. All three car seats behind me were empty. On...
37 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Apr 23, 20184 min read
How It Feels to Be Born Again (Not In The Way You Think)
I never knew getting old, being a mom, would feel this way. Some mornings after I’ve swept the toast crumbs away, mopped up the splatters...
42 views0 comments
Amy Aves Challenger
Apr 15, 20184 min read
The (Perhaps Healthy) Loneliness of Expat Life
I’ve written a bit about the loveliness of expat life— about the beautiful shades of smiling mothers and children; the faces representing...
100 views0 comments
Blog Amy Aves Challenger
bottom of page