Julie Bowen Jokes About Growing Apart from Her Teenage Sons — and Having to Use Snapchat to Contact Them: ‘I Got Dumped’

The actress shares her son Oliver and twins John and Gustave with ex-husband Scott Phillips

Julie Bowen's sons are growing up — and growing apart from their mom.

The Modern Family alum, 54, appeared on a Thursday, Sept. 12 episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna and spoke about her teenage sons — Oliver, 17, and twins John and Gustave, 15 — whom she co-parents with ex-husband Scott Phillips.

Noting that she's been spending a lot of time away from them as she's worked on her new show Hysteria, Bowen says she's found a creative way to stay in touch with her sons.

"Luckily, they’ve all grown and different rates and at different times have all gone in that heavy sleep cycle. Right now, cause I’m working on the East Coast and they live in L.A., the only way I communicate with them is through Snapchat," the actress says.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Related: Julie Bowen Shares Rare Photo of Three Sons as One Visits ER with Broken Wrist on Family Vacation

"Do they talk to you about things?" Jenna Bush Hager asks a little later in the conversation.

"You mean like girls? No. I have a lot of purposefully scattered about the house books that are informational about sex, drugs, what to avoid, how to not get people pregnant, not get diseases. I’m constantly talking about things…" Bowen jokes, trailing off.

Co-host Hoda Kotb then asks Bowen how she connects with her teenage sons.

"I do say no phones in the car. They’re allowed to listen to whatever music they want, but that in and of itself you’re just like, ‘My eyes are bleeding,' " Bowen shares. "But yeah, I won’t let them look at their phones."

"But basically I’m in the desert right now. It’s like I got dumped by three guys I was madly in love with," she continues. "I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m right in the kitchen,’ and they never show up. It’s as desperate as I ever felt in high school when you had a crush on a boy."

"‘Hi… it’s me… mom… I birthed you?’" Bowen mimics. "They don’t care. But they do get excited. They’re excited for Hysteria. They’re excited for Happy Gilmore. They get excited for new stuff."

Although Bowen doesn't often share photos of her sons, last July she posted a rare snap on Instagram of all three of them, along with an X-ray photo illustrating a broken wrist.

"It’s not a vacation without a trip to the ER for a broken wrist… Both bones broken, but John is on the mend and his brothers were total champs," she captioned the two shots.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.