Winkie's Way: There's no Time Like the Present

If you've followed this blog for a while, then you have heard of my beloved Aunt Winkie.

Over the past few weeks, I've reflected on the many things I've learned from Winkie, not by any direct instruction, but simply by example and observation. I've decided to start sharing them with you.

There's no time like the present.

Winkie welcomes help in her tiny kitchen, but I keep my support to the sous-chef role: slicing, dicing, fetching, stirring. Once, as I grabbed utensils to set the table, she noticed that there were crumbs in the cutlery tray. (We all have those, right? It just never ends.) I grabbed what I needed and was ready to close the drawer when she stopped me.


"Might as well wipe those up right now," she commented as she swooped in with a damp cloth. Three seconds later, the crumbs were gone.


Another time, we had helped repair the grout in her bathroom which caused a lot of dust and debris. I cleaned up most of it, but there was a small bit that escaped the dustpan. If it were my house, I'd have left those crumbs to migrate to the corners for the next time I vacuumed.

Not Winkie. She grabbed her vacuum and hoovered them away. And I suddenly realized why her home always looked so clean and tidy.

A clean and tidy bathroom.

Over the past month, I've started applying this approach to my bathrooms. (Baby steps!) Rather than waiting to clean the bathroom once a week (or every two weeks – I really HATE cleaning bathrooms), I wipe the sink with the hand towel after each use. I also clean at least one thing in each bathroom every time I use it: wipe the dust out of the corners, or clean the toilet seat, or wipe the mirror or switchplate. I've been surprised that not only are the bathrooms definitely cleaner, but it doesn't feel like the odious chore it used to. I'm not "cleaning the bathrooms," I'm just "wiping this bit of wall."

It feels a lot like "adulting" and it actually feels good.

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That's it for today's reflection. Nothing earth-shattering, but just little things she does that improve her life and have, by extension, improved my life.