纽约（美国有线电视新闻网商业频道）Jasmine Moorman 度过了艰难的一周。
五个孩子的单身母亲正试图解决后勤混乱。由于公共汽车司机外出，她不得不接送三个最大的孩子上下学，这使她在管理 Covid-19 测试的工作中迟到了。
她的儿子们在课后活动中迟到，所以她可以在下班后接他们。但她的女儿还不够大，无法参加该计划，需要早点带回家——而 Moorman 应该在工作。她不得不争先恐后地找家人帮忙，她祈祷着公交车司机很快就会回来。
另一个并发症：她的两个年幼的孩子还不够大，不能上学。附近的一家日托中心正在处理自己的人员配备问题，目前不接受更多儿童。目前，Moorman 的祖母正在照顾他们，但她年纪越来越大，照顾两个年幼的孩子是一项艰巨的工作。
住在肯塔基州欧文斯伯勒的 Moorman 正在处理这一切，同时她自己也在从突破性的 Covid-19 病例中恢复过来。她担心未来会怎样。
“我非常担心[远程学校]会再次成为可能，”她说。 “上个学年是一场可怕的斗争。” Moorman当时正在休产假，所以她不必担心上班。现在情况不同了。 “如果这一次发生，我真的不确定结果会是什么。”
大流行近两年后，在职父母想知道他们还能承受多少。
对于一些人来说，由具有高度传染性的 Omicron 变体引起的最新激增正在引发一系列全新的意想不到的斗争。对于其他人来说，这意味着突然恢复到早期的流行病状态，例如在家工作，同时帮助孩子进行远程学习，这一次是在经历了几个月的压力之后。
多米诺骨牌效应是真实存在的——并且可能对经济复苏造成损害。仅仅一名公交车司机喊病号就可能引发一系列后果，扰乱几个人的工作。
Daycares are shutting down and parents are 'tired of being tired'
New York (CNN Business)Jasmine Moorman is having a difficult week.
The single mother of five is trying to sort out a logistical mess. She has to take her three oldest children to and from school because their bus driver is out, making her late to her job administering Covid-19 tests.
Her sons stay late at an after-school program, so she can pick them up after work. But her daughter isn't old enough to be eligible for the program, and needs to be taken home earlier — while Moorman is supposed to be at work. She had to scramble to find a family member to help out, and is crossing her fingers that the bus driver will be back soon.
Another complication: Her two younger children aren't old enough to go to school. A nearby daycare is dealing with its own staffing issues and isn't accepting more children at the moment. For now, Moorman's grandmother is caring for them, but she's getting older and taking care of two young kids is hard work.
Moorman, who lives in Owensboro, Kentucky, is dealing with all this while recovering from a breakthrough case of Covid-19 herself. She's concerned about what the future will hold.
"I am very worried that [remote school] would be a possibility again," she said. "Last school year was a terrible struggle." Moorman had been on maternity leave at the time, so she didn't have to worry about going into work. Now the situation is different. "If it happens this time, I'm not really sure what the outcome would be."
Nearly two years into the pandemic, working parents are wondering how much more they can take.
For some, the latest surge caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant is creating a whole new set of unexpected struggles. For others it means a sudden return to early pandemic conditions, such as working from home while helping kids with remote learning, this time after months of stress.
The domino effect is real — and potentially damaging to the economic recovery. Just one bus driver calling out sick can set off a series of consequences that disrupts work for several people.
