Cats like to be involved. I call it helping. Lily helps me tie my shoes when I’m preparing for a walk and remove them when I return. There’s something about the laces that intrigue her. She’s always dragging my cozy slipper sox around the house—trying to bring them to me, perhaps? She also helps me with the laundry. Her favorite games are, “keep away” or “dibs, this towel (shirt, sock) is mine.”
Her favorite activity is helping me in the kitchen. She always takes spill duty. Of course, if 
a bit of potato or carrot lands on the floor, she looks the other way. But she’s eager to help clean up a cheese or chicken spill. And she enjoys playing “paperweight” on my desk, and “paw the pen off the desk.”
I have to wonder how I ever managed to open the mail or read the newspaper without a cat around to help. Ever feel that way? But cats aren’t very good at helping with the vacuuming. Our cats hide on the highest perch in the house when I bring out the vacuum cleaner.
Outdoor cats make great gardening partners. They seem to enjoy the weed-pulling task, but don’t expect them to help with the watering.
Cats often show interest in your hobbies. Try to take a picture of a cat and she’ll reframe the image before you can press the shutter button. You may be shooting for a sweet close up of her face and end up with a blur of fur instead.
Lily loves tax season when I have papers organized in piles across my desk. At least she only lays on the stacks now. As a kitten, she’d scatter them as soon as I’d leave the room.
Our cats have been known to change the channel on the TV, secretly drop a toy in our shoe, pull things out of a slightly open dresser drawer, shred an important document or receipt, and urp up something overnight so that someone steps in the slimy gooey mess on the way to the bathroom the next morning.
Yes, cats like to be involved. And when the sewing project, card game, dusting chore, or letter-writing activity is over, it’s likely she’ll join you for a nap (or a bowl of ice cream).
