Gwen Stefani is known for her many talents, but before all else, she's a mom. The 51-year-old entertainer shares three children with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale. Their oldest, Kingston, is 14. They also share 12-year-old Zuma and 6-year-old Apollo.
Gwen is a hands-on mom, and she's learned a lot about herself along her parenting journey. In an interview with Zane Lowe for his At Home With conversation series for Apple Music, Gwen revealed that helping her kids through their struggles helped her figure out the root of one of hers.
The singer revealed that after helping her sons through difficulties reading, she learned she was dyslexic. It helped her understand parts of her journey and why certain things in her life played out as they did.
Gwen Stefani is opening up about how she learned something important about herself through her children. The 51-year-old mom of three revealed she learned she was dyslexic after helping her children through their own reading difficulties. She shared her story with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's At Home With conversation series.
"One thing that I've discovered through having kids is that I have dyslexia — everyone has things that happen and mine was that," she shared.
"And I feel like a lot of the problems that I have had or even decisions that I've made for myself stem from that, because now the children — obviously, it's all genetic — they have some of those issues."
She's thankful that it's come to light because of all the resources that are available to help with the learning disability today.
"But now they get all these benefits. They have these incredible teachers and schools and they don't have to have shame about it," she continued.
"They understand that their brain functions in a different way. All of our brains do, you know what I mean?"
Gwen admitted school wasn't particularly easy for her either, and now she knows why.
"I was a good girl. I didn't do any bad stuff," she explained.
"It was just really hard for me to function in that square box of school that everybody was supposed to be understanding. And my brain didn't work like that; it still doesn't. But it works in different ways that are probably a gift that other people can't do."
Gwen explained that her lack of confidence even impacted her in the early days of No Doubt.
"At that time I had written that whole record not even knowing how to write a song and I had literally laid my entire life out for everyone to hear. And then I'm still in the band with Tony [Kanal] who I was so dependent on, because of probably my dyslexia," she explained.
"I didn't know any of this until now, but I think that I didn't have any confidence in myself, at the time, but when I would write a song or I would get on stage, it just felt so right and the only thing that was going right for me."
Gwen has felt freer in her solo career. She's currently working on a new album. She's also in the thick of wedding planning with fiancé Blake Shelton.
"Life's gotten so good right now actually having a best friend who I can be in love with and just share everything with and trust. It's just been such a different chapter," she said.
"He's my best friend," she gushed when discussing Blake.
"We tell each other everything. I don't want to do anything without him. He's my homie. And he's just a very generous, generous guy. He's full of love and generosity."
"I've never met someone that's just so interesting," she continued.
"And it's weird because over the years — because now it's been five years I've known him — he is an artist. He's a Gemini. … He has a lot of different sides to him. But I think the fact that he really could walk away from anything at any moment. And his true love is just of nature and of just being at that ranch."
"He's just always been the same," she later noted.
"He's the same guy no matter where he goes, you know what I'm saying? You feel so proud … There's just something great about someone that's so genuine and then super talented, because then you watch him sing and you're just like, 'My God, your voice.' He's really good."
Gwen and her boys have spent a lot of time at Blake's ranch this year. She thinks it will be a time she comes to cherish, as chaotic as it is.
"The one thing that I feel like we try to do in quarantine is just really be like, 'Oh my gosh, we're going to look back at this three months, these 100 days in lockdown together, homeschooling the kids and cooking and eating tons of carbs,'" she said.
"And having to do our own laundry, having to cook. And I mean all this stuff, clean toilets. And it was a lot, it was a lot of boys, a lot of dirt. But I know that I'm going to look back at it and I already look back at it like it was an amazing thing," she continued.
"It's just trying to find the beauty in the moment and the good things that are coming out of it."
