I Threw a “Show and Tell” Night, and Now I’ll Never Go Back to a Normal Dinner Party

One of my favorite parts of childhood was show and tell. I always had something to talk about and show off to my classmates — I had a lot of interests — and to this day, I think it’s a great way to get to know another person. So I was excited to discover an event in Chicago called Show and Tell for Grown Ups, where a small group of presenters have five minutes each to talk about their passion, with a few minutes after for the audience to ask questions. I signed up immediately to present about cheese fortune telling (I’m a professional cheese fortune teller), but also learned that night about fencing, Pompeii, a really weird fridge, and a gigantic Wetnap.

I loved hearing about everyone’s unique interests, and it got me thinking about what my friends and family might be into that I don’t know about. So I decided to throw a “show and tell” party myself as a fun analog way to learn more about the people I love. 

Adults tend to lose track of each other and everyone’s interests — especially because we don’t see one another every day as we used to in school or when living at home. Responsibilities, like taking care of children or elderly parents and working, take over and you spend less time getting to know your friends. What better way to rebuild tight-knit communities than getting off your phone and learning about each other’s interests through show and tell? 

I live in a house with three other people: my husband and his parents. So instead of a full-out party, I pivoted to a family dinner night with show and tell as the highlight.

Over beef stroganoff (my mom’s recipe!) and cheesecake, my husband, his parents, and I shared our niche interests. I spoke about my favorite book that I’ve written so far, Historic Chicago Bakeries. I explained the process of writing it, which included interviewing bakers all over Chicago and coming home with a ridiculous amount of sweets after every interview. I also shared some of my favorite stories from the book itself, like when a baker and his siblings had a pie fight with holiday pies that couldn’t be delivered because of a blizzard. My husband (Forrest) spoke about our sweet Japanese Spitz, Gertie. I learned that before I came into her life, she had a phantom pregnancy and collected a group of small stuffed animals that she treated like her puppies, and that once she ate a piping-hot pot roast piece off the floor, scalded her throat, and had to be on a liquid diet for two weeks. Forrest’s parents learned about the scandal of Gertie’s heritage — we thought she was 100% Japanese Spitz but she is, in fact, half Pomeranian! 

Carol, my mother-in-law, spoke about her love of children’s books, which started when she was young. Her mom would buy her Little Golden Books at the grocery store, and then immediately get Carol and her sister library cards as soon as they moved somewhere new. I learned about her favorite book character (a vegetarian buzzard) and that she and my father-in-law would read books to Forrest when he was little so much that Forrest began to fake-read them to himself in the evenings before he could actually read. Forrest and I both learned that Carol’s love of children’s books spurred her to launch a book donation project for underprivileged kids in Tallahassee, where they used to live, and the campaign ended up collecting more than 700 books. My in-laws have only lived in Chicago with us for just over a year, so my father-in-law, Doug, shared his thoughts on Chicago overall. He told us his likes (museums, concerts, architecture, parks, public transportation) and dislikes (traffic,  weather). We all learned he enjoys being a passenger in a car driving through the city because then he can make note of all the new places he wants to check out and any opportunities he sees to get involved in local life.

Overall, our family show and tell was a resounding success. I love that we all learned something new — and that, as we spoke, it reminded each of us of related stories no one had heard that we then told one another. The whole evening truly drove home for me that honestly, we don’t know what our loved ones are into, unless we ask to hear about it. 

Getting to know anyone in a face-to-face way (sometimes with props!) like how kids do in school isn’t just fun — it’s also an extra-meaningful way to deepen relationships. In a few weeks, I’ll host another one with my friends, when we can all get together. I can’t wait to learn something new about the people I love.