My long-distance grandsons have what they call “the home phone,” an iPhone Brayden, Camden, and Declan all have equal access to for communicating with friends and family (approved by Mom and Dad).

Occasionally my phone dings and pings over and over as I get a flood of gifs and goofy emojis texted from “the home phone.” As my grandsons don’t indicate who it is doing the texting, I have to guess according to what the message contains. If text is included, it’s typically Brayden — though Camden is getting more proficient in his reading and writing (which makes my guesswork at who the sender might be even less likely to be accurate). Texts with mostly gobbledygook and an occasional successful emoji or gif are usually from Declan. Usually.

Regardless of who’s texting, I respond with gifs and emojis of a similar sort. Then I get several back. They return a slew of such back. We continue the graphic communication — never any real conversation — until one of us grows tired of texting.

The correspondence may not be deep but it’s grand connecting just the same. I appreciate they’re thinking of me. And that they feel confident enough in our relationship that they know Gramma will understand their intention, whether the graphic is a disco-dancing pig, a bug-eyed beagle, Fortnite wackiness, “You Da Best” gif and similar sentiments.

Declan, my current favorite five-year-old

Then there are the times my phone alerts me to a Facetime call coming through. Those times are almost always Declan. Face to face communication is much easier for a five-year-old — and Facetime with Gramma is a grand way to pass the time while waiting for Mommy to get out of the shower or while waiting for a big brother’s ball practice or game to get over.

Jim and I got one such Facetime call just as we finished dinner the other night. Declan was sitting in the stands at Camden’s baseball practice and felt like chatting. He introduced us to his friend Mason, sitting beside him and engaging with a phone of his own. He shared a quick shot of Mommy on the other side of him so she could say hello from the stands, too.

Searching for ways to keep him talking rather than making us nauseous by moving the phone all about, I asked Declan what we should do when Jim and I visit him and his brothers in a few weeks. Without a second of hesitation, he suggested with a smile, “Make bracelets and play a game.”

What?

Jim and I glanced at each other and chuckled, finding it hard to believe our uber-athletic, hiking, biking, ball-playing grandsons would find it fun to sit down with Gramma and make bracelets. Maybe we heard wrong.

“Make bracelets?” I asked Declan. Who confirmed that’s indeed what he said.

“Alrighty,” I told him. Then suggested bowling, one of Declan’s favorite activities.

“Yeah, we can do that, too!” he responded enthusiastically.

Jim and Declan steered the conversation into their long-time favorite discussion: accusing one another of being Baby Groot. Or Groot. Both groaning and vehemently denying their own Groot status.

Soon the Facetime session was over. After ending the call, Jim and I chuckled again at Declan’s suggestion we make bracelets together.

The next morning, I figured I’d look into the options for making boy bracelets. Perhaps I was wrong about boys and bracelets. As a mother of only girls, I couldn’t be sure.

First stop was Pinterest, of course, to search for “boy bracelets” — and I was shocked at the results! Boy bracelets are clearly a thing. Something called Paracord Bracelets even a bigger boy thing… and girl thing, too.

Okay, then. If Declan wants to make bracelets, we’ll make bracelets! I searched Amazon for supplies to pack in my Grandma Bag for the upcoming trip — and was shocked again at the paracord accessory options out there.

With hundreds of cords and numerous all-you-need kits, I chose to go with a kit. With an instruction book! Considering I didn’t even know about paracord bracelets before Declan’s declaration, I definitely wouldn’t know how to make them. The kit shown here should do (an affiliate link in case you’d like to try them, too).

My bracelet-making kit should arrive soon. You can bet I’ll be practicing paracord knotting and bracelet-making before packing the goods in my Grandma Bag (I’ve had my fair share of Pinterest fails, for sure!).

You also can bet there’ll be no more snickering from this grandma when a grandson suggests something. Just look at who got the last laugh this go-round. — and who got schooled by a preschooler in the stuff that boys like to do.