So I took my 12 year old to see The Maze Runner. I told her she could bring a friend and at first it looked like nobody was interested and I got happy because it would be just the two of us. I thought, for a long time I guess, that there would maybe be a sweet spot like between 10 and 13 where she’d be mine still. But it doesn’t work that way. Another girl came along and I felt so stupidly left out. You’d really wonder who is the kid and who is the adult. They giggled and giggled and took endless Instagram pix. The only time the phone was off was during the film itself. After the film I thought maybe we could at least talk about what we saw — what was good, what wasn’t. But she was lost in the giggle sea.

Maybe it’s the same for everyone, or maybe it’s just me. But there is no sweet spot. They are little and need you all the time. And then they just. Don’t.