Cindy Crawford thinks it is ''great'' that she wasn't a young mother.

The 49-year-old supermodel - who has son Presley, 16, and daughter Kaia, 14, with husband Rande Gerber - is pleased she had the time to be ''selfish'' and figure out her life before she settled down to start a family when she was truly ready.

She said: ''My mom was very young, and that worked out great, but for me it was great that I wasn't a young mother. I was able to be selfish with my time in my 20s -- to try to figure who I was and what I wanted. When I did finally have kids, I was ready to put myself second, or third, or fourth.... All of a sudden, your priorities just change. I was ready to let something else be the focus.''

Cindy married first husband Richard Gere in 1991 but their ''fairy tale'' marriage ended just four years later and though she was devastated at the time, it gave her a more ''realistic'' view of relationships, making her subsequent union with Rande even stronger.

She explained in an interview with Elle Canada magazine: ''The other defining moment in my life was the end of my first marriage. It was like a fairy tale.

''You'd think I would know that the fairy tale wasn't true because I'd lost my brother and my parents had got divorced, but we all want to believe in the movie version of love.

''It was crushing, and it made me realize that I had to look at relationships realistically. You have to put that vanity version of a relationship aside -- that's like playing dress-up.

''I went to a relationship therapist and she asked me a great question: 'Are you looking for a soulmate or a husband? They're not necessarily the same thing. A husband is the guy who is solid, and you know you want to have children with him and you know he's going to be there.'

''The relationship therapist helped me to appreciate the solidity -- the foundations. I've been with Rande for close to 20 years, and he's now my soulmate. We were able to grow together.''