Gwen Stefani covers Marie Claire Magazine October 2012 on which the 42-year-old mother-of-two is wearing a half-shirt and leather pants because she can. Inside the issue, she talks about juggling motherhood, work, and marriage; claiming the latter as her biggest accomplishment.
On raising two young boys fairly close in age: “From the moment they wake up, they start beating on each other. I never knew they would be so physical. They’re just starting to play real well together, but with a lot of fighting. They do look out for each other; especially the little one, he really loves his older brother.”
On her 10 year anniversary with Gavin Rossdale: “A miracle… my biggest accomplishment is my marriage so far. Because it’s hard, everyone knows it’s hard. [Marriage] is something that I always wanted to do successfully. It was a dream of mine. I like the official-ness and the family-ness of it all, having the same name and making decisions together.”
On her marriage to Gavin Rossdale: “[Our relationship] is better than it’s ever been. Like, we’re learning about each other all the time. He’s an amazing dad, he works so hard. I can hear him writing songs through the wall, and it is at a much quicker pace than me! He balances me out. And he… he never stops liking me, which is awesome! It makes me feel happy, that someone likes me as much as he does.”
On whether she’s going to have a third child: “I really, really, really wanted one about two years ago. And it didn’t really work out. So… I feel good with what we’ve got. Everything works out how it should. You can’t plan anything, right? You can try.”
On working and being a mother: “I was definitely swimming upstream, trying to balance everything that’s been going on with having kids and a family. There’s no way to do all these things.”
On the process of her new album: “I would be up all night because my second baby [Zuma, now 4] didn’t sleep, and he had a lot of ear infections. Then I’d wake up in the morning and do my workout, which I always felt I had to do, and then meetings for my three clothing lines, and then hang out with my kids, take them to preschool, da-da-da. And then at 4 o’clock, I’d be like, ‘All right, I’m out of here, I’m going to go to the studio’ and try to write a record. Sit on the couch [with my bandmates] and be like, ‘Let’s do this now because I’m missing time with the kids; I could be having dinner with them and putting them to bed.’ It was really hard.”
On how hard it is to balance: “Every day I fail at something. Every day someone is suffering because I’m doing all these things.”
On slowing down: “I’ve got myself in a lot of trouble by not saying no.” The solo career? Buh-bye. Her weight? She’s got a new approach: “This last year I kind of stopped working out. I think my body just needed a break. And so I did that, and focused more on feeling good as opposed to beating myself up.” She’s even eased up her efforts on her L.A.M.B. fashion line. “I have learned to delegate. It still looks awesome, but did I pick out the buttons? No, I didn’t. I missed the last two Fashion Weeks because they were when school started. I can’t miss the first week of kindergarten.” – via Marie Claire Magazine.
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