ITunes and Apple IDs: Multiple family users

Question

Hello everyone,
As many people do we started off our use of iTunes in a modest way: one couple, one computer, one ipod. Then the iTunes store came along and we continued with that setup. Then things gradually became more complicated to the point where we now have a family of users:
User 1, Dad: Intel iMac, 3rd Gen iPod, iPhone 4s. Old Dotmac alias1
User 2, Mum: Intel iMac (different one from Dad), iPod nano, iPhone 3Gs, iPad. Old Dotmac alias2
User 3, Daughter: shares Intel iMac with Mum, iPod nano, iPad mini. Old Dotmac alias3
So, these are all under my Apple ID. This worked okay until recently (with iCloud I think). Changes that were happening with other people's devices were getting synced onto my device without me knowing about it. One day I was sending work emails from my phone but everyone was seeing my wife's personal profile that she had updated. I fixed it, only to discover she was now sending emails as me. Also when I my wife purchased an app it started downloading onto my iphone. This isn't a massive problem really, and may even be fixable but I think things would be tidier if we all separated into three Apple IDs with user names from the Dotmac aliases we have been using for years.
This bit is easy but then there is the tricky bit: We have a lot of content that we bought under our shared ID that needs farmed out. I don't much care for Rihanna or Glee but my daughter has bought a lot of that 'music' under my Apple ID and on my credit card. She is now old enough to have her own Apple ID and has her own bank card to purchase. It only makes sense to do this becuase she has to grow up some day! If we do this will she be able to access her previous purchases or will she then become locked out from them?
Also, can my wife and I share an Apple ID and maintain our separate personal information? We like the transparency of sharing the account (and email address), but I don't want to have the "me" in the address book being my wife. Would we be better to create individual ID's?
Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

Thanks for the reply Roger,
That seems silly that when a child grows up they either have to remain tied to dad's iTunes account or loose all their content. I for one wouldn't be too keen on having a separate Apple ID and iTunes account for a young child. I liked the protection level I was able to provide when necessary. Surely it ought to be possible for me to make a one-off permanent transfer of all her items from my AppleID to her new AppleID (I'll certainly not miss Lady Ga Ga). Surely Apple have heard of this core concept of a family: kids grow up.
Regardless, I've now cracked it! Permission to use purchased items is based on the principle of authorising computers through an Apple ID. All our computers are authorised to access items on my Apple ID, and as it turns out I can additionally authorise the computer my daughter uses to access items purchased on her new Apple ID. All her items now synchronise to her iPad, and she can purchase independently from now on. The only drawback is that any computer she purchases in the future has to be authorised by my Apple ID as well as her own. This should always be possible if we stay on good terms .
With regard to email. I've cracked that too. With Five products accessing the same email address the inconsistencies were killing us. Establishing identical mailbox behaviours and setting a shared identity name solved the syncrhonising war of her setting overriding mine, to then be overriden in turn. Compromise, as in many marriage issues, was the way to harmony .