While both Maci Bookout and Leah Messer found fame while having kids at a young age, the Teen Mom OG stars don’t want their kids to follow in their footsteps.
Bookout, 32, first appeared on MTV’s 16 and Pregnant when she was expecting her son Bentley, who will turn 16 himself this fall.
Messer, also 32, also appeared on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom 2, and has 14-year-old twins Aliannah Hope and Aleeah Grace and 11-year-old Adalynn Faith.
They both spoke with E! News, revealing how they speak to their own teenagers about sex in today’s world.
‘I just do it point blank. I feel like honesty is the best policy when it comes to that. You want them to be as prepared to make smart decisions as possible,’ Bookout said.
While both Maci Bookout and Leah Messer found fame while having kids at a young age, the Teen Mom OG stars don’t want their kids to follow in their footsteps
Messer, also 32, also appeared on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom 2 , and has 14-year-old twins Aliannah Hope and Aleeah Grace and 11-year-old Adalynn Faith
‘And you also want them to feel confident in what they know so that they can advocate for themselves,’ she added.
Messer added she was just as blunt with her kids, stating, ‘If they ask a question, they’re old enough to know the answer.’
Bookout also joked about her son getting ready to start driving, which scares her as a parent.
‘Bentley was driving and I was like, “Oh my God, that’s really this year.” That’s scary,’ Bookout admitted.
Messer added, ‘I’m learning a lot about how my mom was trying to balance teenagers. I thought, “Teenagers are going to be easy.” Pssh.’
Messer admitted she has, ‘great kids,’ though she added, ‘I don’t know, I thought it was going to be a little bit easier than what it is.’
Maci added, ‘It’s been one of those times in parenting when you have to let go a little bit and really trust that you’ve done everything you can and hope that they make the right decisions.
‘But you know damn good and well that they’re going to screw up and you just have to let them deal with it. And just support them in the consequences of it,’ Bookout said.
Maci continued, ‘I just said that like it’s easy, it’s not. It’s terrifying and it’s very difficult.’
‘And you also want them to feel confident in what they know so that they can advocate for themselves,’ she added.
Messer added she was just as blunt with her kids, stating, ‘If they ask a question, they’re old enough to know the answer.’
Messer admitted she has, ‘great kids,’ though she added, ‘I don’t know, I thought it was going to be a little bit easier than what it is’
Maci added of Taylor McKinney, her husband of seven years, ‘It helped us make the shift into like, “OK, now we do need to prioritize more time together without the kids and without talking about the kids.”‘
‘At the same time, we’re still parents of three kids and life is life. But we’re better at prioritizing time. For sure,’ she added.
‘Then we’re like, “Let’s set something for this week.” Whereas in the past we wouldn’t even think about it. So, it’s definitely gotten better,’ she admitted.
Maci added that her and ex Ryan Edwards, ‘are in a good place,’ adding he is showing up, ‘more consistently now than maybe he ever has before.’
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