Father's Day flounder & carnivorous plants June 02 2026

By Elizabeth Ritchie Sherrill

The reactions and memories you make are the gift

My husband and I are high school sweethearts, so he has known my dad for a long time. When we were first married, we used to split up the responsibility of picking out Christmas and birthday gifts. I would find gifts for the women in our families, and he would shop for the men. It just seemed easier that way. There was one exception: my dad. He would say, “I have no CLUE what to get your dad,” which is funny because my dad is the type who would love any gift, which really just makes you want to get the right gift even more.

One of the finds I am most proud of for my dad was a flat, ceramic flounder. Yes, a pottery fish. It didn’t hold flowers or act as a plate or a coaster; it effectively did nothing. Its sole purpose was to invoke a unique form of happiness for the right person. My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I plucked it from the antique mall and announced this was the perfect Christmas gift for my dad, but I said, “He’s going to love it.” And he did. To this day, it is proudly displayed in the living room.

There have been many kooky gifts before the flounder, and many after. I rarely know what I am looking for when I search for a gift for my dad; it just has to feel right. It’s a challenge I enjoy. This year, what felt right was a native, carnivorous plant: the pitcher plant. He has been on the lookout for a Yellow Pitcher plant for who knows how long, and I am hopeful that I will find one down here on the coast. With Father’s Day only a couple of weeks away, I managed to find a new variety to give him as a backup, but not his Yellow Pitcher plant. Not yet! The hunt continues.

One of the best parts of gifting to family is knowing how to give a gift that means more than just the gift itself. It’s wrapping Pokemon cards in 100 layers of bags and taped up paper for your nieces and nephews, it’s finding the brand of pancake mix on Amazon that your grandfather used to make you when you were ten and sending it to his house, and it’s gifting the flat fish at an antique shop and watching their face light up with humor and joy because they know how well you know them. The reactions and memories you make are the gift, and I hope you’re able to find that special, weird thing your dad will love this Father’s Day, too.

Looking for more Father's Day gift ideas? Check out my post about my favorite North Carolina Father's Day gifts for dad.