Back when I was a stay-at-home mom, I didn’t have to take a special day to show them what I was already doing in front of them for upwards of 100 hours a week. That’s why I created my own holiday, Please Take My Children to Work Day, for part- and full-time at-home mothers and fathers — so we’d all get a break from the everyday.

My husband’s office didn’t have their usual Take Your Kids shin-dig today, presumably because they were too busy having layoffs. I dunno.  Maybe they’re working too hard with fewer people on staff to take time out of the day to show the kids how to teleconference and how to design web sites.

What I do know is that this is a hard holiday for a lot of parents this year in particular, whether they’re unemployed or working doubly hard (some, while making less). Maybe it’s better if the kids don’t see that.

I can’t help but wonder if our kids’ generation will grow up more like my grandparents than we did. Even during the recession of the early 80’s, I don’t remember much angst over where the money was coming from or how much things cost like I’m seeing not only online, but in my own fairly well-off neighborhood.

I don’t remember consciously picking something cheaper on the menu while out to dinner with my parents like my kids do now, on the increasingly rare occasion that we go out to dinner. They save boxes and tissue paper like I never did, and they squeeze every last drop out of their shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes.

Yet I suspect that a little worry, coupled with smart teaching about money (both have CD’s, if only with dismally low returns), will serve our children well, and would have served our own generation better prior to the Great Recession. We all got a little drunk on credit and “had-to-haves” that were really just “nice-to-haves-if-you-can-afford-it.” Now we’re paying for it — or wondering how we’ll pay for it.

Maybe our kids don’t need to see us work — if we’ve even got work — this year. Maybe they just need to know that we love them, and that we hope that the economy turns around again before they decide whether or not to take their own kids to work some day. Now that’s something I’d love for them to see.

What do you think? Feeling the squeeze of the Great Recession?

At night, I stare at the presents under the tree and run through my mental Christmas list, and yet, I come up empty. I know that I don’t have to buy anything for my husband’s siblings this year, because we all decided to find the best bottles of wine for under $10 as our gifts to each other, and Hubby is in charge of all things wine.

Some of my other relatives will receive thoughtful, yet inexpensive, personalized gifts from Kodak.com that I’m hoping will make it here on time despite the Blizzard of ‘09, as I was too cheap to pay the expedited shipping costs. 

My cousin and I decided not to get each other’s kids gifts this year since we won’t see one another on Christmas, anyhow. She reports that her two-year-old will certainly understand about the recession and all. Good luck with that, Susie.

My kids, however, do understand the recessionary effects on this year’s holiday, and are expecting fewer gifts under the tree on Friday morning. Every once in a while, I get the feeling that I should buy them one or two more things each to up the Christmas morning wow factor, but I get over it quickly. That’s so 2006, after all.

This Christmas, my husband is getting me a set of mini-van tires. Well, two of the tires, as the other two are for my birthday in two weeks. He was going to get a leaf blower for Christmas, but he managed to salvage ours with duct tape and a prayer.  The leaves are covered in snow this week, anyway. Happy holidays, honey.

We’ve cut back on Christmas this year, and frankly, it feels good. I have less anxiety and more money than any holiday season since the kids were born during the dot-com boom. And I don’t think they’ll mind much either. When I asked my fifth grader what he looks forward to the most about Christmas, he cited the ham breakfast we have at my parents’ house Christmas morning.

There was no mention of presents at all, which makes me wonder why the heck I spent all those Decembers upping the wow factor, when it appears what the kids wanted was good chow. All I know is that I’m bringing some Tupperware to my parents’ house Christmas morning to fill up on ham, after I apologize for the tardiness of their presents.

See Jen and her neighbors talk about the recession on CBS The Evening News: