Macaulay Culkin Is Literally Using Home Alone to Teach His Kids Safety
In November 2025, Home Alone marked its 35th anniversary. The child star who once defended a suburban house with paint cans and icy stairs is now 45 and raising two preschoolers of his own. Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song share two sons: Dakota and Carson. The boys watched the film for the first time within the past year, and it literally turned into a lesson!
Comedy Becomes Safety Training
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Alan Light
Dakota and Carson love the chaos; the traps, stunts, and exaggerated falls. At ages four and three, the danger in the story does not fully register, although Dakota understands a bit more than Carson. But Brenda saw an opportunity. After watching, she reinforced a rule about strangers. If the boys do not know someone’s name and have never seen that person at their house, that individual counts as a stranger, and it does not matter if the adult claims to know their parents.
She believes a small amount of fear can help lessons stick. After the movie ended, she reminded her sons that she had been sitting beside them the entire time and would never leave them alone, as Kevin’s parents did in the film. In public spaces, she sometimes quizzes them. She asks how they would get home, how they entered a building, and how they would exit.
She actively teaches them to identify exit signs. She even instructs them that if they get lost, they should call her and Macaulay by their full names, not ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’. The boys now know both parents’ full names and can say them on command. Macaulay has joked that Brenda is intense about it. She has also admitted that he considers her “absolutely crazy” about the drills, but still, the routine continues.
The Irony Is Almost Too Good
Interestingly, Dakota and Carson do not realize their dad is Kevin McCallister. Macaulay has said that the boys often watch the film. They enjoy it and laugh at it, but have no idea that the eight-year-old on screen is their father at age 10.
During the film’s 35th anniversary in November 2025, he shared that he plans to keep that illusion going as long as possible. Dakota has started noticing similarities, and after seeing an old family photo of Macaulay and his seven siblings, he pointed at a younger version of his father and said, “The kid looks like Kevin.” But his Dad quickly changed the conversation.
At one point, Dakota even claimed he was Kevin. When his dad asked if he remembered kicking burglars out or sliding down the stairs, Dakota confidently said yes. Macaulay laughed and played along.
A Full-Circle Parenting Moment
Macaulay and Brenda began dating in 2017 after meeting while filming Changeland in Thailand. They got engaged in 2022. In February 2026, they appeared together at the Los Angeles premiere of Operation Taco Gary’s.
Home Alone made Macaulay Culkin one of the most recognizable child actors of the 1990s. Decades later, that same movie now helps teach Dakota and Carson how to stay alert, recognize unfamiliar adults, and understand how to get out of a building safely.