After speaking with my family about exactly how we would present this page to you, we decided on an interview type format. Our thought was that this would provide you with the most information.
The following interview with my husband and my teenage daughter, will be done by yours truly.
Question: Question: Question: Question: Question: Question: Interview with my teenage daughter.
Question: Question: Question: Question: Question: Question: Question:
How did you find out about your wife being a multiple?
Husband:
Several years ago my wife and I had an argument one afternoon. I went to the store and when I got home I found my wife sitting at the table with curled up fist over each eye. As I approached, I noticed that she was acting like a child. I spoke with the person who was out attempting to find out who was there. I ascertained it was a four year old little girl, talked to her briefly and left the room to call my wife's therapist.
What was going through your mind when you first realized what was happening?
Husband:
Holy S__!! (Well, you can fill in the blank here..*S*) This doesn't happen to real people, only to people on Oprah. Then it was, "Wow, this is really weird" but then it was also, "Wow, this is kind of neat."
Had there ever been any signs before this that might have made you suspect your wife was multiple?
Husband:
Yes. There had been times in the past, after arguing, that my wife(or the person I thought was my wife) would begin to cry like a small child and say things connected to her childhood that seemed irrelevant to our argument. It was during these times that I would suspect something, however, the only thing I thought I knew about multiple personalities was that you had to lose time, like Sybil. My wife always had a keen sense of awareness, time and a hundred times the memory I had, and not knowing about co-consciousness, I dismissed her being multiple.
How has the discovery that your wife is a multiple changed your life?
Husband:
I now have more people, children included, to talk to, to share ideas with, to see the world from different aspects, to love, to hug, and yes, to argue and disagree with. There are teenagers, small children, adults, males and even toddlers that fill my life everyday with warmth, caring, and loving friendship.
Is it hard not to show favoritism toward one alter over another?
Husband:
Yes. I love all the alters but it is most difficult at times, not to show a partiality toward the children. For example, sitting on the couch, watching a western on T.V., I come face to face with a five year old "Billy the Kid". I am now inclined to have a shootout in the middle of the living room. Now, how many of you can do that! *S*
Is it difficult for you with your wife having male alters?
Husband:
At first, I thought there might be some problem. I quickly came to realize that I had known them all along. For instance, Bobby, the baseball player, who could outdo just about anybody catching and throwing a ball. There also, is an advantage when it comes to what type of television program we watch. I get to see alot more action movies when the guys are out. The down side is the male alters are usually the protectors of my wife's system, so sometimes caution in dealing with them is also needed.
How did you find out about your mother being a multiple?
Daughter:
I was ten and my mom was walking through the hallway, with a stuffed bunny in her arms talking like a little kid. That was the first time I actually knew I saw one of my mom's alters.
So did you know what you were seeing when your mom walked through the hallway looking like a little kid?
Daughter:
No, I kind thought she was out of her nutshell, until later when my mom and dad sat me down and explained what was going on. Then I knew I had seen and known her alters all my life. It sure explained the time when I was four and she got upset that she was losing at a game of Chutes and Ladders and threw the game across the room. I had been playing the game with one of her four year old alters.
What is life really like having a mother who has MPD?
Daughter:
I think it is kinda cool. You have someone to defend you about little things like if I get to stay up an extra half an hour to watch T.V, or stay after school and walk home with friends. Little things that don't harm me but things my mom and dad wouldn't do but her teen alters would. It is also cool because I have someone for each sport and each game to do stuff with. A definite advantage is I don't have to go out with my mom looking like a geek, they know how to dress her.
Does that mean you get by with anything because your mom is a multiple?
Daughter:
NO. My mom has control over her alters but I do get by with the little things that the younger alters know is no big deal. For the most part, they all act like my mom and they know how to get control over me too.
What are the disadvantages to having a mother that is MPD?
Daughter:
For me, there aren't any! I mean the little kids can manipulate me when they turn on their charm because they want something, like the time there was only one bag of blue cotton candy, we both wanted it but I gave it to them and took the purple cotton candy. But that is not really a disadvantage, it is more like being in the position of being an older sister, which I have always wanted to be.(and it doesn't really happen that often anyway)
Can you tell when your mom switches personalities?
Daughter:
Yes. Cause like when her eyes blink, or change colors, and she breathes really different with each alter, or the way the ones who smoke hold a cigarette, the way she does her facial expressions with each are so different. Not too hard to tell or learn who each is, even without them speaking.(not always but most of the time though..*S*)
Okay, to sum it up, how would you say having a mom that is MPD has impacted your growing up years?
Daughter:
Everybody teaches you something different, how to develop my different talents. It teaches me how to be a person, although I am not a multiple because there would be no reason for me to be, it teaches me how to get in touch with all the different aspects of myself.
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