Gwen Stefani revealed the thing that most surprised her about motherhood
She might be the frontwoman of one of the coolest bands on the planet, No Doubt, but Gwen Stefani has surprised herself by how different being a mother is than she initially thought.
The rockstar mom has three kids with her ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, 3-year-old Apollo Bowie Flynn, 8-year-old Zuma Nesta Rock, and her eldest, 11-year-old Kingston James McGregor, but has recently opened up about how, despite being one heck of style and music icon, she’s found that the rockstar lifestyle doesn’t necessarily translate when you have children.
“I was in a band and free my whole life, so I always thought I would be really free with [my kids] and do whatever I wanted, like, ‘Oh, I’ll take them out of school,’” she told People about her experiences as a mom. “But you learn that when they have boundaries is when they feel the safest.”
Of course, being a rockstar means that you have no discipline because, well, you’re a rockstar. But according to Gwen, that’s one of the trickiest things.
“The hardest thing to do is having a discipline chart and follow-up on all those things,” she admitted. “It’s work, you know? But that’s where you get the results.”
Despite clearly being one rocking mom, like all parents Gwen Stefani revealed that she does worry about how her kids turn out when they’re older, and whether they’ll be good people (especially given that they have a naughty streak, she said). However, she did say that when she sees them still playing she feels relieved that they’re still living in their childhood, even if requests for piercings are starting to rear their head.
Balancing her time working and being a mom, Gwen says, means that she doesn’t always have the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with her kids, but that now that it’s the summer vacation she’s enjoying spending time as a family.
“That routine of homework is just ‘Ugh,’” Gwen told People. “By the end, you’re ready to just have them be home and have a little bit more of a flexible schedule and do fun stuff that they love to do.”
Essentially, despite having a highly successful career as a singer and as a coach on The Voice, Gwen shared how having kids taught her a valuable lesson.
“What I learned about having kids and having a career is [it’s] not all about us,” she revealed. “You realize that they only want you to care about them. It’s just that automatic, like, ‘You’re my mom!’”
Aww, now ain’t that just the sweetest.
