It may be hard to believe, but singer and judge on the most recent season of The Voice, Gwen Stefani, just celebrated her 50th birthday on October 3. And while age is clearly nothing but a number to Stefani, who hasn’t slowed down a bit since the start of her career in the 90’s, perhaps her greatest achievement is being a mom for the last 13 years.
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In addition to being one of the world’s most well-known pop stars, Stefani is also the mom of three boys, 13-year-old Kingston, 11-year-old Zuma, and 5-year-old Apollo. Stefani shares all three of her children with her ex-husband Gavin Rossdale. The couple were married for 14 years before divorcing in 2016.
In a recent interview with People, the mom admitted it was hard for her to grasp that her youngest child was going into kindergarten this year. “I got a baby in kindergarten now and that was devastating. But he’s so excited and he’s doing so well. I got junior high… God gave me all three boys. I’ve always been surrounded by boys.”
It’s no secret that between making new music, judging The Voice, and performing a successful residency in Las Vegas, Stefani is a very busy working mom. But there is nothing she loves more than being home to take her children to school in the mornings.
In an interview with Shape, the 50-year-old said “I love having projects. But I also love to be in my bed and have downtime. I love to know that I don’t have the guilt of being so busy that I miss out on taking my kids to school.”
Another thing her interview with Shape pointed out was that she’s a nurturing mother. A mother who scoops her kids up when she finds out they got hurt to make it all better. She also says becoming a mother has taught her how to get organized.
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“One thing the kids have taught me is how to be more organized. I lived at home until I was 26, then I had a tour manager, then a manager, then an assistant. On tour, you even have somebody who has the key to your hotel room. But as a mom, you have to be the one in charge.”
However, life as a balanced working mom hasn’t always been her top priority. In an interview with InStyle in 2015, just one year after her youngest son was born, Stefani never really thought of herself as a mother. She said, “In the beginning, I didn’t want to think of myself as a mother. I was like, ‘Wait a minute! ‘Ain’t No Hollaback Girl’ is who I am!’”
It didn’t take long for that perception of herself to change. “I had to learn quickly to accept it. Being a mother and having a career―those are just different roles you play. You’re still the same person you were before, but now you’re more because you’re a mother too, with a lot to do.”
And according to Country Living, each of her boys are following in their mom’s footsteps in one way or another. As Country Living reports, Kingston caught the music bug from both of his rockstar parents. At 13, he’s already the lead guitarist in a band called Wild Card.
Her middle child has an eye for fashion, just like his mom. According to People, Zuma reportedly helped design a teen/tween eyewear collection with Stefani last year.
And while her 5-year-old son is still growing into his own, Apollo is known to their family as the “miracle baby.” Stefani told Seth Meyers in 2014 that Kingston prayed long and hard for another baby brother. “He prayed every single night and four weeks later I was pregnant.”
Stefani also told Seth Meyers in a separate interview that her kids aren’t really into her music just yet, but they love the fact that she’s famous, or better yet, that she has famous friends. She joked that her boys “try to use me sometimes” to get close to some of their favorites, like Ellen Degeneres.
Hey, you miss 100-percent of the shots you don’t take, right?