Which would be worse?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Ok, another (totally unrelated to my question) thread made me think about this. Which scenario would be worse:

Scenario A – Janice has 4 kids, she loves each one equally, and does the best job she can. Because she is bi-polar/alcoholic/otherwise impaired, she is not a very good mother. No abuse, but not much love either. She doesn’t hold a steady job, volunteer for anything or have any social circles.

Scenario B – Janice has 4 kids, she loves all of them equally except one. The 3 that she loves are treated well, they have love, comfort and everything a child wants from a parent. The fourth child is abused physically, mentally and emotionally. Janice has a good job, is an active and productive member of society, volunteers for many different things, is a member of many different social circles (church, Mensa, etc).

Scenario C – Janice has 4 kids. She loathes all of them, and is physically, emotionally and mentally abusive to all of them. She does not hold a regular job, has no friends, does not volunteer, etc.

Scenario D – Janice has 4 kids, she loves all of them equally except one. The 3 that she loves are treated well, they have love, comfort and everything a child wants from a parent. The fourth child is abused physically, mentally and emotionally. Janice has no job, no friends, and does not volunteer, etc.
Which scenario is worst and why? What makes one situation better than the other? In scenarios B and D, should the 3 children feel shame for being loved while the 4th is not? Why or why not? This is really just something that piqued my curiosity and there’s really no point to it.

2

In my opinion, C would be the worst, because it involves the most hurt to the highest number of people.

D would be the next worst, although it’s not much better than B. The only thing that makes it any better is that she is at least contributing to society.

A would have to be the best situation, not that it’s a great one. Even though the situation isn’t ideal for the kids, at least they aren’t being abused.

3

B is worse.

A is unfortunate, but she’s trying and she loves her kids.

C is horrific, but at least there’s solidarity and suffering shared is better somehow. It also increases the chances that with 4 kids being abused, one of them will be noticed by a teacher or neighbor or friend’s parent and CPS will be called in and they’ll all wind up saved.

D is the same as B but the idea of this loathsome mother going around acting all Mrs.GreatMom in front of all the people she volunteers with and none of them pick up on what’s really going on…that’s somehow worse than if she’s a loner, in which case it would be simpler to hide her evil. Hiding it in plain sight makes it worse.