Parents' Day (어버이날) on May 8th is a major Korean holiday that puts enormous social pressure on married couples — especially daughters-in-law — to perform filial piety perfectly. Posts about in-law conflicts around this date reliably go viral every year as people share and vent their own experiences.
Parents' Day in Korea (May 8th) is one of those holidays where a single phone call can make or break your relationship with the in-laws — and one exhausted new mom is finding that out the hard way.
A woman posted on Nate Pann sharing her stressful experience: on Parents' Day morning, her mother-in-law called to casually hint that her father-in-law would really appreciate a call. The poster had already planned to call both sets of parents, but the day completely got away from her. She's currently deep in the trenches of new motherhood — feeding her baby solid foods and formula on a 2.5-hour rotation, three times each, all day long. On top of that, she had to prep homemade baby food AND take the baby to a children's cultural center class. She didn't even have time to eat her own meals.
By the time she finally caught a breath and glanced at her phone, it was already 5 PM. She called her father-in-law right away and tried her best to be warm and grateful despite the awkward timing — but she could tell he wasn't thrilled. Then, shortly after, her mother-in-law called back and told her she was "very disappointed" and scolded her for the late call.
The poster is now asking the internet: did she really do something that wrong?
Korean netizens are largely rallying behind her, pointing out that raising an infant is an around-the-clock job with zero margin for error — and that a 5 PM call on a holiday is hardly a crime when you're running on no sleep and no lunch.