Gwen enjoys break from kids

There's No Doubt taking care of two boys can be exhausting!

After an 11-year break, Gwen Stefani has reunited with No Doubt to release a new album, "Push and Shove," in September. And the busy mother of two admitted in an interview with New York Magazine's Vulture that returning to her band was a "nice break" from being mom.

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Since their last album, "Rock Steady," in 2011, all the band members -- Tony Kanal, Adrian Young, Tom Dumont and Stefani -- have become parents. Stefani, 42, married Bush guitarist and lead singer Gavin Rossdale in September 2002 and welcomed son Kingston on May 26, 2006, and son Zuma on Aug. 21, 2008. (She also released two solo albums, "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." in 2004 and "The Sweet Escape" in 2006).

"I don't think [parenthood has] mellowed us out, but priorities have to change," Stefani told Vulture. "Before, it was unspoken that the band was the No. 1 thing; there was not a girlfriend or someone else that could be before the band. It wasn't even something we discussed: it just was what it was. But we're at a stage where we don't have to be like that anymore; we can kind of do this when we want to do it."

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"Like today, for instance, I told them, 'I cannot do 12-hour days anymore; stop it!' " she explained. "I just missed Kingston and Zuma going to sleep. But I get to talk to you, and it's actually a nice break my kids are so much work," she said, laughing. "No Spider-Man for me tonight, but that's OK. I'll take a break."

The band hadn't intended to take such! a long break from making albums together. "We were just burned out; we had toured so, so much, and it takes so much of yourself," Stefani said. "I got married and decided I wanted to do a dance record, and I didn't ever expect for it to be what it was or for the No Doubt thing to be such a long break, but it was one of those things where you just had to sort of follow your inspiration.

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"And then as soon as I was done with that last [solo] tour, I was done. I was like, OK, I'm ready; I'm so ready for the No Doubt record. And then I got pregnant with Zuma, and it was really challenging to be pregnant and come off all the stuff I had done, and try to write. And that's why things got really delayed; it was like, impossible," she said. "I just couldn't do it; I had nothing left to give. And when I finally had [Zuma], we said, 'Let's just go on tour and try to get inspired.' And when we came off tour we wrote our first song."