The cast of 'Teen Mom: Family Reunion' says the new season shows the solid mother-daughter relationships — and which need work

• The new season of "Teen Mom: Family Reunion" premieres January 3 on MTV.
• Catelynn Lowell, Jade Cline, Kiaya Elliott, and Maci Bookout open up about their family dynamics.
• They also talk about how their childhoods have shaped the ways they parent.

For over a decade, the "Teen Mom" franchise has been serving up lessons on how to navigate the world of parenting. Now viewers can get a closer look at the dynamics between the moms and their moms in the new season of "Teen Mom: Family Reunion."

The second season of "Teen Mom: Family Reunion" follows Catelynn Lowell and Maci Bookout of "Teen Mom OG" (2009-2021), Jade Cline of "Teen Mom 2" (2019-2022), and Kiaya Elliott of "Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant" (2018-2022), along with their co-stars Cheyenne Floyd and Amber Portwood of "Teen Mom OG," Briana DeJesus and Ashley Jones of "Teen Mom 2," and Kayla Sessler of "Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant."

Some of the cast's own mothers will be joining the women as they work on their mother-daughter relationships through team-building exercises and sessions with life coach Dr. Cheyenne Bryant.

Lowell, Cline, Elliott, and Bookout sat down with Insider to talk about what they've learned from their moms about what to do — and what not to do — when it comes to raising kids.

'That's not the mom I had growing up'

These four moms have seen firsthand that the rules of parenting shift as mothers become grandmothers.

"I'm like, 'Wow, my mom got weak with those grandbabies,'" Lowell, 30, told Insider. "Whatever happened to the mom that set boundaries or grounded us?" 

Bookout, 31, agreed, saying that when she was a child, if she wanted a sandwich, she had to make it for herself.

"I'm grateful for that because it made me very independent," she said. "But I watch my mom with my kids, and she's like, 'Do you want a sandwich? I'll cut it into triangles. What about ice cream for breakfast?' This is not the mom that I had."

For Elliott, her mom's grandparenting style puts her in a no-win situation at home.

"My mom and my son take sides against me," she said. "So if I piss my son off, he'll go and tell my mom. And I get in trouble when he gets in trouble, and I'm confused as to how that works because I'm a 22-year-old woman."

Creating a chaos-free house

When Elliot would get in trouble as a child, her mom would throw a sandal at her. Now Elliot practices "gentle parenting" with her 4-year-old son, Amour, by talking to him and teaching him how to describe his feelings.

"If he's being impatient, I say, 'Do you remember the word patience?' and he'll say, 'Yeah, it means wait.' I say, 'OK, so do that.' So I'm trying to be a little more communicative," she said. 

Like Elliott, Cline, 25, emphasized the importance of having a good line of communication with her 5-year-old daughter, Kloie.

"With my childhood, there wasn't a lot of communication," Cline said. "It was like, 'I'm the adult. You're the kid. Listen to what I say,' and no one really had tolerance or respect for children's needs or opinions."

Cline added: "I learned throughout my childhood what not to do and how to be a better parent and show affection.

"I remember growing up, we would have to go outside and pick out a switch to get our ass whooped, and I could never imagine doing that with my daughter."

Cline has spoken about how her mother has struggled with addiction and substance abuse on the show. Lowell also mentioned what it was like to watch her mother's relationship with alcohol growing up, and how it affected her. Both of them say they feel motherhood has given them a chance to establish healthier relationships with their daughters than they formed with their own mothers.

"My house is literally chaos-free," Lowell said. "It's super chill and calm. I grew up with an alcoholic mother, so I'm very strict." 

Lowell doesn't drink in front of her kids or allow out-of-control parties at her house.

"It's a sad reality of growing up in addiction, but I want my home to feel like a safe place for my children," she said. 

Taking notes from grandma

Sometimes it's the grandmas who know best, but it's not always easy to heed their advice, Elliott said.

"The best advice my mom has given me — that I still don't listen to sometimes — is don't wear your emotions on your sleeve or the world is going to chew you up and spit you out," she said.  

Aside from words, what sometimes resonates most is the example their moms have set for them.

Bookout said her single mom taught her how to change a flat tire and fix a toilet.

"My mom always said, 'I'm teaching you how to do this so you'll never need a man to do it for you,'" she added.

"Work ethic and making sure that your children are taken care of is something that she taught me, and also showing affection to your children. She was a very affectionate mother," she said.

Seeing their mother-daughter relationship in a whole new light

Some of the mother-daughter relationships have remained solid over the years, like the one between Elliott and her mom. Elliott described her mom as her support system, saying, "Most of the things I dealt with at 'Family Reunion' were personal things that I had been harboring for a long time that I didn't know were affecting me so bad."

Other relationships are a work in progress, Lowell and Cline said.

"I feel like the relationship with my mom — there's always going to be work that needs to be done," Lowell said. "I don't know if we'll ever be super, super close but who knows."

For Cline, seeing her castmates with their moms made her realize that she didn't have a lot in common with her mom.

"You think as an adult, you and your mom become best friends," Cline said. "With me and my mom, so much has happened that we just never got there. I'm trying to accept that we're just different people. Not every mom and daughter are going to be BFFs."

You can watch the new season of "Teen Mom: Family Reunion" on MTV starting January 3 at 8 p.m. ET.