Heavy/MTV Maci Bookout
“Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” star Maci Bookout has shared every step of her parenting journey on television ever since documenting her first pregnancy on the premiere episode of “16 and Pregnant” in 2009. In the March 13 episode of Bookout’s true crime podcast, “Expired”, Bookout and co-host Natalie Gard go on a tangent that leads to a full-blown parenting rant by Bookout, who has a lot to say on the subject.
“I’m not perfect and I make a lot of mistakes, especially parenting… First of all, people can judge me all they want for what I’m about to say, but I will never be afraid of my kids. It ain’t going to happen. I am in charge… They will always know not to f*** with me,” the mother of three said.
A “Teen Mom” fan page on Instagram shared a snippet of Bookout’s podcast, and the official “Expired” account commented to say, “🙌 Check out the full rant on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast!”
Maci Bookout Shares Her Parenting Secrets
Throughout her rant (which begins around the 56:45 mark in her latest podcast episode), Bookout shared her keys to getting her children to listen to and respect her at all times, saying it’s a two-way street.
“I’m a really good whisperer and I have great facial expressions. That’s all it takes. And, you have to be a parent that shows up and respects them as a child, as a human being, respects what they want, what they say,” Bookout said, “But it don’t mean you got to do it. But you have to respect what they have to say and how they feel. And you have to just show up for them because that makes them respect you. It’s all about respect.”
Bookout also mentions her oldest child, Bentley, whom she had in October 2008 with her then-boyfriend Ryan Edwards, saying, “I can tell you Bentley could walk in this door right now while we’re recording, and you could be like ‘Are you afraid of your mama?’ and he’d be like that 14-year-old [going through] puberty, ‘My mama sucks’, but he’s going to give you that smirk like ‘I wouldn’t mess with her.’ But he also knows I’m going to be the first one to have his back, but not about some bulls***. I’m not going to cover for him.”
Bookout ends her rant speaking hypothetically, about how she would react if her children committed crimes as they grew up, saying, “I will visit you in prison or rehab or wherever we got to go. We are going to face our consequences. I can still love you, I can still be your mother, and love you in any environment. It does not mean that I have to support you in some hateful, violent crap, but I damn sure will never be afraid of you. And if I am afraid of you, then we need to get help and get you somewhere. Because if I’m afraid of you then everybody should be afraid of you. Period.”
Maci Bookout Reunited With Ryan Edwards on ‘Teen Mom: Family Reunion’
Bookout’s co-parenting journey with her ex Edwards has seen plenty of ups and downs over the years, including Bookout filing a restraining order against Bentley’s father in 2018. Edwards is currently facing legal issues of his own, having been scheduled by the court to complete at least 45 days of rehab at a facility in Austin, Texas. Prior to his recent arrests, Edwards returned to television screens, reuniting with Bookout on the “Teen Mom: Family Reunion, the Aftermath” stage.
The two had a conversation about their co-parenting goals moving forwards, guided by life coach Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, and Edwards became teary-eyed when he said that his goal was “to be able to – I guess for Maci to be okay with [me] just being able to see [Bentley], really. Hell, I haven’t got to spend any time with him, just me, in a long time.”
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