Parents often feel like they could do better for their children, but before you beat yourself up about missing out on that Hatchimal or not getting your kids a personalised message from Santa this Christmas, take comfort in the fact that you're almost definitely better than Kate and Peter McCallister – the parents in Home Alone. Here's why…
- You wouldn't forget your child when going on holiday
Or we really hope you wouldn't! Poor Kevin is left sleeping in the attic when the McCallister family dash off for their flight to Paris. While the family did attempt a head count of the children, it shouldn't be so difficult to notice if one of them is missing.
- They didn't realise their mistake until they were halfway to Paris
If it wasn't bad enough that they left Kevin at home, what made it worse is that they didn't even notice until they were halfway through their flight. The reason for their blissful ignorance calls for yet another point on their list of parenting fails…
- They left their kids to travel economy while they flew first class
Rather than caring for their children during their long transatlantic flight, the McCallisters sipped on champagne in First Class while the youngsters stayed back in economy.
- It took them days to get home
Although Kevin's mother Kate did seem genuinely horrified when she realised what they had done, the rest of the family didn't appear that bothered that Kevin was home alone. Not one of them took responsibility for the youngster being forgotten, and were insistent that it would be okay to wait days until the next flight back to the US.
- They didn't chase up the police to keep checking on Kevin after he didn't answer the door
Kate was understandably upset when she spoke to the police about the incident, but why didn't they persist in checking on Kevin's wellbeing after he didn't answer the door?
- There were dangerous robbers on the loose
Forgetting a child at home alone is bad enough under any circumstances, but especially when there are dangerous criminals on the loose. Although the McCallisters were unaware of the robbers' intentions, it was only because they had such a savvy and fearless son that all of their possessions weren't stolen.
- They didn't seem that apologetic when they got home
You would think that if indeed you did manage to leave your child at home alone for several days you would be seriously apologetic upon your return. While Kate did say sorry to Kevin, she didn't seem overly concerned about what he had been doing in their absence. Instead she was just shocked that he'd managed to go the shops and do his laundry (let alone fend off two dangerous robbers).
- It didn't happen just once…
Most parents would never let their child out of their sight if they had shared the same experience as the McCallisters, but the following year yet another incident happened when Kevin managed to board a different flight to his parents – once again without them realising.
Are they the worst parents of all time? It certainly looks that way!