The night before the McCallister family is set to leave for their Christmas vacation in Paris, Kevin gets into a fight with older brother Buzz and spends the night on the third floor as punishment. With all of the teasing and ridicule, Kevin wishes that his family would disappear – which ends up happening due to a power outage that resets everyone’s alarm clocks.

Having overslept and rushing to the airport, the family leaves young Kevin behind in all of the confusion. Kevin wakes up extremely pleased to find the house empty. However, after realizing that his neighbor Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom) and the Wet Bandits – a pair of burglars notorious for breaking into vacant houses – are still in the area, Kevin pretends that the entire family is still home to scare them away.

Upon finding out that Kevin is staying home by himself, the Wet Bandits – Harry and Marv – plan to break into the house. And Kevin is ready to defend his territory. From setting up various booby traps to discovering the true Old Man Marley, this eight-year-old has a lot of tasks to complete before he can reunite with his family.

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Now here’s what Kevin’s story can teach us about living by ourselves.

1. Do anything and everything that you couldn’t do before.

Being the youngest of the large family, Kevin is often overlooked by his parents or teased by his older siblings. While most of us may panic when our family is nowhere to be seen, he is actually overjoyed to spend the holidays by himself. 

The peace and quiet are soon interrupted, however, when Kevin learns that burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) may be lurking around the neighborhood. This prompts him to gather some life-sized cutouts, holiday tunes, and plenty of string to scare them away.