Every year, my family and I share special moments during the holiday season, but it wouldn’t be complete without watching Kevin McCallister outsmart criminals Marv and Harry like a living cartoon character. There’s something about “Home Alone” that makes it more fun with each watch, and I didn’t understand why until I had a house full of children and saw Mrs. McCallister in a new light. 

Like the McCallisters, my husband and I have five kids. Life is busy, and we rarely get a moment to slow down. Travel is always a circus, and the holidays are a nonstop roller coaster ride. I rarely get any sleep because I’m doing everything I can to ensure that I don’t skimp on anything for my children, even though I work multiple writing jobs and my husband is a delivery driver. 

But unlike me, Kate McCallister’s relationship with her youngest child, Kevin, is introduced on shaky grounds. He is overwhelmed by having his house invaded by countless cousins, aunts, and uncles, and he seeks her out when he feels excluded by his uncle.

My kids do this all the time. They come to me and ask for help with things I know they can do on their own when they need attention. Sometimes, I have to affirm my love for them and make them do it themselves. Sometimes, I know they need me to just be there with them while they complete their tasks.

But in the first scene with Mrs. McCallister and her son, she’s on the phone chatting with a friend about their trip. When Kevin complains to her, she responds, “I’m on the phone,” perfectly illustrating the self-absorbed mother who is lacking in her maternal duties.

She spends the rest of the scene frustrated with her son. She even remains on the phone when he challenges her after she tells him to get off of her bed. “Hang up the phone and make me, why don’t you?”

He’s clearly craving her undivided attention, but she’s too busy trying to get ready for a trip to realize why. She also doesn’t seem to care if he is packed yet while packing herself.

Traditional moms are notorious for taking care of the kids before they even think of themselves. I always make sure my kids are packed and double-check their bags if they pack them on their own because there’s nothing more obnoxious than traveling and finding out your son forgot his underwear. AGAIN.

But “Home Alone” shows us there is something way more awful than forgetting underwear. Something even worse than forgetting your kid.

Mrs. McCallister doesn’t even seem to care if her youngest child is properly fed the night before a trip, and when he complains — and it causes an accident — she punishes him. She basically created an explosive situation by not doing her motherly duties and then gets mad at her son for being a typical child.

 When they argue in the hallway before she sends him into the attic for bed, Kevin says, “Everybody in this family hates me!” He feels completely unloved. It’s heartbreaking.

If any of my children said that, it would automatically deflate my anger. I would work to assure them that it is not true and that they are loved. But Mrs. McCalister tells her son, “Then maybe you should ask Santa Claus for a new family. “

It’s an incredibly hurtful thing for anyone to do, much less a mother, and it only exacerbates the situation until Kevin states, “I don’t want to ever see you again for the rest of my whole life, and I don’t want to see anybody else either!”

Finally, Mrs. McCallister realizes how bad things are and says, “I hope you don’t mean that. You’d feel pretty sad if you woke up tomorrow and we were all gone.” However, when he disagrees, she offers a petty response and tells him to say it again.

It is not until she forgets him when the family leaves the country that she realizes she might have been wrong. She does at least host that unbreakable maternal bond that all mothers carry deep inside of them. She wakes up on the airplane out of the country and feels that something is wrong when Kevin cries out for her in fear while left on his own.

This sets off her maternal energy and puts her on a new path. It takes her entire journey home to bring out the nurturing care out of her.

While the rest of the family goes to their ritzy hotel in Paris, she refuses to enjoy any comfort until she knows that Kevin is safe. The maternal guilt that mothers know so well does her a service and helps her to question herself and her parenting.

She learns that not even the police can substitute the safety of parental guidance when she calls them and they try to blow her off. It also takes a feminine bond to help her get back into the United States so she can return to her son.

The young airline worker cannot help her. Standby is uncertain, and she is forced to resort to begging strangers for help. This humbling experience brings her to an elderly woman who trades airline tickets after she pleads, “I beg you. From a mother to a mother. Please.”

This plea gets her closer to her son and opens her up to taking help from another stranger, a father who was often away from his children. Played by John Candy, this sad but hilarious polka band member is yet another guide that helps Mrs. McCallister understand how powerful her relationship with her son is.

Upon reaching her destination, and returning to the home where she was too busy to remember her son, she is eager but careful. She is conscious of her mistakes. To remedy the situation, she simply wishes him a Merry Christmas. But this quiet reunion hosts so many emotions.

At first, Kevin just stares at her.

It is not until she steps toward him with tears in her eyes and apologizes that the distance between them seems reparable. They had both gone through a lot during their separation, and it no longer stands between them with the words, “Oh Kevin, I’m so sorry.”

It means so much to them both. It’s as if she is apologizing for being inattentive and fully understands that being there for him is what matters most. That pushes Kevin to rush into her arms and rekindle a bond that had been strained for much longer than this home-alone situation.

Mrs. McCallister’s journey is incredibly transformative. While Kevin learns self-reliance and the importance of family, her side-plot is one that gets me every year. It gives the film a deeper meaning that makes it an unexpected, timeless classic — especially for moms.