‘No One Ever Said That to Me’

And just like that, Kristin Davis is already thinking about sending her kids to college … or not! The Sex and the City star is mom to 14-year-old Gemma, who she adopted in 2011, and 8-year-old Wilson, who she adopted in 2018. Even though she still has several years before they graduate high school, she has started talking to them about higher education — and her advice looks a bit different from what she heard growing up. SheKnows spoke to Davis while she was on set for her September 2025 Flow cover shoot (see the cover story here!), and we were impressed with her insight.

“I mean, there are phases when my kids are both like, ‘We’re never going to college,’ and like, ‘That’s fine. You can stay at my house forever. I love you,’” Davis tells SheKnows.

More from SheKnows

And she’s not joking, either. “I do say to them, you don’t have to go to college if you don’t want to,” Davis shares. “And I say that partly because no one ever said that to me, because my parents both worked. They were academics.”

Not attending college was “not an option” for Davis (who went to Rutgers University), but she wants things to be different for her kids. “I feel like the world is changing rapidly, and college is not necessarily the means to an end that it used to be,” she explains. “But I also think it’s a super important developmental phase of being out of the house, but having structure. So I can certainly see big, big, big positives of going to college.”

College was never a set expectation from my parents to me or my five siblings. After we grew up, half of us continued on to get our bachelor’s degrees while the others pursued careers through different avenues. I felt supported by my parents no matter what future path I decided on, and I love that Davis is promoting that same mindset for her kids. Especially during a time when kids are so highly stressed about academic success.

“So, my daughter sometimes used to say she didn’t really care. And I was like, ‘okay,’” she says. “Then she’s like, ‘I want to go to college in marine biology.’ And I’m like, ‘Great — let’s get the math scores up, but okay.’ And then she’s like, ‘Oh, I want to go to college in Hawaii.’ And I’m like, ‘Super great.’” But, Davis says, she doesn’t want to force them. We love a supportive mom!

In her interview with Flow, she said that her secret hope would be for her kids go to UCLA, which is “right down the street” from her, so they could keep living at home (and therefore keep those “empty nest” feelings away — for a little while longer, at least). But like most parents faced with considering their children’s futures, Davis admitted to Flow that she realizes keeping them home might be a selfish act. “I know that, intellectually, I shouldn’t be fine with that,” she says. “But emotionally? I’m fine with that!”

For now, though, Davis has a few years before she crosses that bridge — she’s firmly in tween-and-teen territory, and yes, that includes trying to jump on board with their slang.

“There’s the weird words that Gemma’s group has,” she laments, regarding “6-7,” the popular (if confusing) phrase parents everywhere have been hearing on loop. But Gemma doesn’t just say the phrase — she took things a step further at her birthday party this year. “She had to make cookies! A six cookie and a seven cookie! Big ones!” Davis tells SheKnows. “It was her birthday, and I had numerous teen girls at my house … and that was one of their number one projects they wanted to do, was the 6-7.”

As Davis navigates the ups and downs of motherhood, it’s clear she’s embracing both the big-picture questions — like college — and the everyday quirks, like deciphering slang. And whether her kids end up at UCLA, Hawaii, or somewhere completely unexpected (a cookie bakery, perhaps?), one thing’s certain: their mom will be cheering them on every step of the way.

Before you go, check out where your favorite celeb parents are sending their kids to college.