Gwen Stefani thinks having kids is hard ''work''.

The 42-year-old singer - who has children Kingston, six, and Zuma, four, with husband Gavin Rossdale - admits her group No Doubt are no longer her main focus but she loved having the opportunity to work with her bandmates again as it meant she got to take a break from family life.

She said: ''Before, it was unspoken that the band was the number one 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. Like today, for instance, I told them, 'I cannot do 12-hour days anymore, stop it!' I just missed Kingston and Zuma going to sleep. But ... it's actually a nice break - my kids are so much work. No 'SPIDER-MAN' for me tonight, but that's OK. I'll take a break.''

Gwen was further delighted to reunite with No Doubt bandmates Tony Kanal, Adrian Young and Tom Dumont because she felt the last 11 years she has spent as a solo artist she was trying to be someone she wasn't.

She added to New York Magazine's Vulture blog: ''There's no place like home; we're so comfortable together, we understand each other. It feels, like, normal. Whereas that solo period felt like I was trying to be something, and play a role, and pretend.''