Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones Reveal the Secret To Getting Their Adult Kids to ‘Actually Want To Hang Out’ With Them

Kids can’t get enough of their parents when they’re little — even joining them in the bathroom just to talk! — but when they’re older? Well, it’s not always easy to get quality time with teens or young adult children. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas have a trick, though. And (if you can afford it) it’s genius!

The Franklin star appeared on The TODAY Show this week, where he revealed the secret to getting his and Zeta-Jones’ kids Dylan, 23, and Carys, 20, to spend time with them: “We’ve got good trips.” He joked, “We seduce them with good places to go.”

These vacations are not just road trips to national parks or visits to local amusement parks like most families can manage. They took their kids on expensive trips to India in December, and Carys joined her parents at the Cannes Film Festival in France last May.

“Catherine and I are blessed with the fact that our kids Dylan and Carys still like to travel with us,” the Wall Street star said on TODAY. “And so we just finished five weeks in India at Christmastime. And we’re always planning next year, what our trips will be and where we’ll go.”

“It’s just a treat,” he added about hanging out with his kids. “Especially because we’re not forcing [them]. It’s like, ‘Catherine, look, they actually want to hang out with us!’ You know, it’s a treat.”

The duo, who have been married for 23 years, are empty nesters now. Back in Dec. 2022, the Wednesday actress gave an update about her smart kids in an interview with Parade. “My son graduated from Brown University this year and he studied political science. He’s doing internships and working on political PACs,” she said. “My daughter is currently studying foreign relations and diplomacy at school.” Her daughter goes to Brown University as well.

“They got their brains from me, though my husband likes to differ,” she joked.

Insiders revealed that since the kids moved out, the National Treasure: Edge of History star and Douglas are stronger than ever. “Their children have always been their number one priority, but now that the kids are off on their own, they had to come up with a plan to keep from getting on each other’s nerves,” an insider told InTouch Weekly last month. “Catherine suggested they go their own ways more often, pursuing their individual hobbies and projects.”

Taking time for themselves and planning lavish family vacations sounds like the perfect way to cure those empty nester blues. But if you can’t afford to travel like the Douglas-Zeta-Joneses, you could always plan smaller trips or follow a tried-and-true method: offering to do your grown-up kids’ laundry!

Before you go, check out these celebrity parents who love to spoil their kids with expensive gifts.

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