"My In-Laws Are Asking Me to Bring My Hospitalized Child for Ancestral Rites"... A Mother's Complaint

Child with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease and Pneumonia from Daycare
Urged to Visit Ancestral Graves Before Seollal...Netizens Debate

Family visiting ancestral graves during the holiday. This is unrelated to the article content. [Photo provided by the National Folk Museum of Korea]

As the major ethnic holiday Seol approaches, a mother's dilemma about whether to go to ancestral rites with her sick child has been shared. On the 7th, a post by a mother, A, who is in a situation where she must participate in holiday events while taking care of her child hospitalized with hand, foot, and mouth disease and pneumonia, was posted on an online community. A said, "My child caught hand, foot, and mouth disease and pneumonia at daycare and has been hospitalized since yesterday."

A explained, "My in-laws want the child discharged before the holiday to bring them to help prepare holiday food, and the next day, we have to perform the ancestral rites together and visit the graves." According to her, her husband also said, "Mom and Dad say it has to be done this way, so what am I supposed to do?" When A said, "Even if the child is discharged, they need to rest at home for at least 1 to 2 weeks," her husband told her, "Don't be so fussy."

A lamented, "What is so important about visiting the graves that we have to drag a sick child there? Is there any other family this inconsiderate?" She added, "My husband is the child's father, but even after seeing how sick the child is, he doesn't seem to recognize the seriousness of the situation."

Netizens who read the story expressed anger, saying things like, "Tell them the hospital won't discharge the child," and "If Mom and Dad say it has to be done, what kind of thing is that for the child's father to say?" One netizen pointed out, "It's a contagious disease; what if it spreads to other children?"

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is an infectious illness that causes blisters on the hands, feet, and mouth. It mainly occurs in children under six years old but can also infect adults. After an incubation period of 3 to 4 days, blister-like rashes smaller than 1 cm appear on the tongue, oral mucosa, hands, and feet, especially on the tongue, back of the hands, and tops of the feet. Symptoms resemble a cold, including sore throat and mouth, accompanied by fever. Because there are various types of viruses causing hand, foot, and mouth disease, children with weak immune systems may contract it two to three times per season, so special care is needed to prevent infection.