Courtney B. Vance on the One Rule He and Angela Bassett Shared Raising Twins: It ‘Was Our Mantra’ (Exclusive)

Vance and Bassett, whose daughter Bronwyn and son Slater are now 18, are preparing to become empty nesters when the kids head off to college

Courtney B. Vance says he and wife Angela Bassett have successfully juggled their busy careers with raising their kids by sticking to one firm rule.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in this week's issue, the 61st Street star, 63, reveals that he and Bassett, 65, made a decision soon after their fraternal twins, Bronwyn Golden and Slater Josiah, were born in 2006 to always have one parent at home for stability and consistency for their family.

"Our mantra was, 'Somebody's going to be home.' We're never going to have both of us gone at the same time and the nanny raising the children," Vance says of the couple taking turns with their work travel and commitments.

"My job has afforded me the opportunity to be able to get back every other day, every two, three days, no longer than a week," adds the Emmy-winning actor known for The People v. O.J. Simpson and Lovecraft Country.

Related: Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance's Relationship Timeline

Bassett's also has a demanding schedule, often leaving her home to shoot her hit show 9-1-1 before the sun rises and returns after dark.

Some days, she tells PEOPLE in this week's Women Changing the World cover story, “I feel a little guilt in that, but also I hope that what will come out of that is that [my kids] see a mama, a woman, a Black woman achieving her dreams, having success. They’ll see that hard work pays off. And they’ll be about that life for themselves.”

While their system carried the family smoothly through Bronwyn and Slater's childhood, Vance and Bassett will soon have to adjust to a new normal. The twins, now 18, are preparing to go off to college, leaving their parents — who have been married since 1997 — empty nesters.

"Our life has been getting ready for this," reflects Vance, noting that he and Bassett got a glimpse of how their life will soon look when Bronwyn and Slater went to a summer camp in Texas this past summer.

Ahead of the admissions process, the family also did a big college tour, visiting 26 schools. "And so they're ready," Vance says of his kids.

As for himself and Bassett, the latter who was awarded an honorary Oscar for her body of work in January with her family by her side, Vance says they will embrace the change as it comes.

"It's another transition. We've went down the baby aisle, now we've got to go down the empty nest aisle and get used to them not being here," he notes.

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And as college approaches, friends have started offering up advice. “Somebody's telling me that, ‘Once you drop them off to school, don't go home, go on vacation, go somewhere, do something,’ ” says Vance. “So you come back with some deliciousness instead of some sadness in your mind and heart.”

While it's a bittersweet moment to see his kids grow up and go into the world on their own, Vance knows it means a job well done. "Somebody told me, 'If you do it right, parenting is the job that you work yourself out of,' " he says. "But again, it just transitions into something else. You become a cheerleader [for your kids]."

Related: Courtney B. Vance on Raising Teenage Twins with Angela Bassett: 'I Go to Work to Rest' (Exclusive)

In a November 2023 interview with PEOPLE, Vance joked about the challenges of raising twins, saying, "I always tell people that I go to work to rest and I come home to work."

"I am running around this house, doing this and that," he continued. "That's the way we are, we are busy, all of us. The four of us and our company manager and our executive assistant, we're a machine that really everybody's got to communicate, 'Who's got this person, who's got that person?'"

For more on Angela Bassett's career and life at home, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, available on newsstands everywhere now.

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Read the original article on People.