Growing up in a big family, I always had a hard time keeping track of who was who at reunions. Cousins are like the branches of a tree that spread out from the same grandparents. Your parents' siblings' kids? Those are your first cousins. It gets trickier when you talk about second cousins—those are the children of your parents' cousins. And then there are 'removed' cousins, which just means they're from a different generation, like your cousin's kid is your first cousin once removed.
One thing that helped me visualize it was drawing a simple family tree. My grandma at the top, her kids (my parents and aunts/uncles) below, and then us—the cousins—all on the same level. It’s wild how one set of grandparents can lead to so many connections. I still get a kick out of explaining this to younger cousins at family gatherings—it’s like solving a puzzle with names and birthdays.