Texting your parents can feel like stepping into a linguistic funhouse. A single period may carry the weight of judgement; a message like “Are you alone?” followed by radio silence instantly turns your phone into a panic generator; and emojis —oh, the emojis — arrive like cryptic hieroglyphs whose meanings are equal parts affectionate and bewildering.

It’s a master class in generational miscommunication, delivered one notification at a time.

Recently, Jason Saperstone, a 22-year-old publicist in New York City, decided he’d had enough and made a PowerPoint on texting etiquette for his parents, Nancy and Pete, who live in Boston.