I’ve always had to know how things work.  It’s probably how I wound up in computers.  How people work is also pretty fascinating, even when the people themselves aren’t.

One thing I’m investigating is what children know at a really young age and how some of these things go away by the time they become adults.  There has been some psych testing of children and the paranormal, as we’d refer to it (how they did it is beyond me).  Children are very receptive to many things when they’re young and capable of experiencing much more than they wind up with as adults.

Some theorize that kids can do these things because it’s innate and no one ever told them they couldn’t.  Maybe telling them they can’t is what eventually contributes to the loss of these skills or abilities.  Who knows - maybe the imaginary friends aren’t all that imaginary.. I certainly don’t know.

I read something recently that said that losing certain abilities is a process of screening, whereby you have to narrow your focus, becoming less open, to get on with life.  I’m not sure I agree but it’s certainly a theory.

As I’ve mentioned, my wife has dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities).  She’s pretty open about it (I have her permission to write about it) but keeps everyone under wraps around children unless she gets permission from the parents.

Our four year old nephew, who my wife visits and plays with a lot, was talking to her and asked who the little girl was.  My wife played it completely straight and asked what he was talking about.  He said the little girl.. inside.  She tried to derail the questioning but he wasn’t having any of it.  He wanted to know who she was, in addition to all the rest of them inside.  Could they come out and play?

I almost fell over when I heard this.  As I mentioned, she does not switch in front of him.  Yet he saw the others.  He asked her very matter-of-factly.  It was not strange for him, it simply was.  My wife went over it with the parents, who had no trouble with any aspect, so the kids are free to come out and play.  She has watched for a reaction from him when she switches and said there is none.

I want to know how this four year old knows.  How does he see?  What is the difference between him and any of the adults who can’t see the others?  Anyone can hear some of the others but seeing them is a completely different matter.

Seeing others is also not limited to external children.  I have noticed that people with the more severe dissociative disorders seem to be very talented at spotting others.  My wife will go to the doctor’s office and spot a few other multiples here and there (not a psych practice).  She will ask the doctor if he’s aware of this but the docs can’t tell you anything due to confidentiality.  Usually a slight smirk will be enough of an indicator that her diagnosis was spot-on.

One time at the therapist’s office we were in the waiting room with another patient.  After the session I told my wife that the lady in the waiting room was probably a multiple because she came in, sat on the floor, took her shoes off, and started drawing.  My wife told me she was definitely  multiple and I asked how she knew.  She told me that a little girl came out and waved to her.

Now I sat in the same waiting room she did, right next to her.  I saw the same wave.  But she saw a little girl waving; I only saw the person who walked in wave.   Maybe there’s a secret wave, kinda like a secret handshake :)

I have to keep reminding Those Inside that I only see my wife, regardless of who’s out at the moment.  The voice and mannerisms can change but a five-foot-seven woman is not going to shrink physically to a five-year-old.   But it’s like water to a fish… multiples think everybody hears voices inside… everybody’s head sounds like a playground…. everybody loses time…. everybody finds clothes in their closet that don’t belong to them…

So, if you’ve stayed with me this long, what do kids know and how do they know it?  When and why does it go away?

There is obviouslty more to life than that which we can touch…