Can You Leave Your Child ‘Home Alone’ in Idaho?

The holidays are upon us and if you're anything like our family, you're already streaming the season's classics in your home. For us, it's the Christmas classic 'Home Alone' and I recently re-watched Kevin McAllister throw down against the "Wet Bandits" with my kids. While my 2-year-old and newborn obviously didn't have much of an idea as to what was going on, it was my 4-year-old daughter who had the most questions including:

• Why didn't Kevin call the cops? No kidding, she couldn't figure it out.
• Where did all the pizza go? (If you know, you know.)
• "Are the mommy and daddy going to jail?"

That's right - there is my 4-year-old daughter asking if a fictional child's parents are going to jail for leaving that child home alone by himself. It's an interesting point and one that has me wondering what would happen if you left your kid home alone during a holiday vacation. Anything could go wrong if you leave a child home alone, especially if the kid is around the same age as the hero of 'Home Alone.'

However, it's highly unlikely that a child would be able to outsmart even the dumbest criminal in the same fashion shown in the film. Do we honestly believe that a criminal wouldn't look down before hopping through a window? Especially one that was left open? Or how about the efficiency of having a ton of feathers stuck to your body?

Then again, anything is possible, and here's a piece of nostalgia to remind us all of the legend that is Kevin McAllister.