{"id":29860,"date":"2017-12-15T08:53:57","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T16:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dolly.com\/blog\/?p=2457"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:53:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:53:04","slug":"home-alone-taught-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/home-alone-taught-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things Home Alone Taught Us About Leaving for the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s the holidays, so break out your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dolly.com\/xmas-tree-delivery\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=home-alone\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Christmas tree<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, bake some cookies, and put on one of our favorite holiday films: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home Alone<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s a great holiday classic, and you can pick up a few tips from it, too (for example, don\u2019t leave your kid at home while you fly to Paris!). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of our favorite learnings from the movie about how to prepare to leave for the holidays:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Make a List, and Check it Twice<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/8OAjVHxiMLSJW\" width=\"480\" height=\"294\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/movie-film-christmas-8OAjVHxiMLSJW\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s not just a tip for Santa. Mrs. McCallister is seen frantically checking her list after boarding the plane, and it\u2019s only after she thinks she\u2019s remembered everything that she realizes she left her own child at home. So make sure to check that your lights are on a timer, you\u2019ve put your mail on hold, locked all your doors, oh, and remembered all your children.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Leave Your Home Protected<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3o6wrh3JuGOyhAPtew\" width=\"480\" height=\"260\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/filmeditor-home-alone-christmas-movies-3o6wrh3JuGOyhAPtew\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So maybe tar on the stairs and broken glass baubles on the floor aren\u2019t entirely necessary, but a few security measures can help prevent the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.asecurelife.com\/burglary-statistics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shockingly common occurrence<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of suburban homes facing break-ins. Eliminate the need for booby traps with visible cameras, deadbolt locks, or a loud dog that can scare off burglars. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Have a Backup Plan for Everything<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/d2Z7rMZnwEzolYQ0\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/homealone-90s-home-alone-d2Z7rMZnwEzolYQ0\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The moment that starts all the drama in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home Alone<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? No backup alarm. In 1990, before smartphones arrive, this is somewhat acceptable, but it\u2019s now 2017, so you have no excuse: set as many alarms as you can (unless you want to be packing to leave an hour after you were supposed to head out).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Travelling? Prepare for Problems<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3rgXBOnymsthV7qmTm\" width=\"480\" height=\"258\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/home-alone-customer-service-ticket-counter-3rgXBOnymsthV7qmTm\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve ever been in an airport around the holidays (and if you have, we\u2019re truly sorry), you know that the chaos there makes even Black Friday look tame. When Mrs. McCallister tries to find a flight home to Chicago, she learns this firsthand as she shoves past other customers, only to learn there\u2019s no available seat on a flight home for two days. Be ready for problems by checking the weather forecast wherever you\u2019re travelling to and from, and if you\u2019re driving, bringing the necessary tools. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Get to Know Your Neighbors<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/U9jhmeSvTk8XC\" width=\"480\" height=\"231\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/home-alone-U9jhmeSvTk8XC\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOld Man Marley\u201d seems scary, but really, he\u2019s Kevin\u2019s saving grace against Harry and Marv. It\u2019s because of Kevin\u2019s compassion and friendship towards Marley that Marley keeps an eye on the house \u2014 and on Kevin. Making friends with your neighbors will ensure an extra safeguard for your home, and around the holidays it can also lead to a happier time for all involved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/aUrmUL2oOal7G\" width=\"480\" height=\"252\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/funny-cute-aUrmUL2oOal7G\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the entire Dolly team, have a happy and safe holiday season!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s the holidays, so break out your Christmas tree, bake some cookies, and put on one of our favorite holiday films: Home Alone. It\u2019s a great holiday classic, and you can pick up a few tips from it, too (for example, don\u2019t leave your kid at home while you fly to Paris!). Here are some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":30162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[644937435],"tags":[15607,4325,400],"class_list":["post-29860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-misc","tag-christmas","tag-holidays","tag-home"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 Things Home Alone Taught Us About Leaving for the Holidays | Dolly Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Home Alone is a classic holiday movie - and also a great teacher of what you should do before leaving home for the holidays.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/home-alone-taught-holidays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Things Home Alone Taught Us About Leaving for the Holidays | Dolly Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Home Alone is a classic holiday movie - 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