What are the holidays without the holiday movies? I had a friend recently tell me that he believes Home Alone is overrated. My response — I wouldn’t miss him as a friend. Ok, maybe that seems a little dramatic to lose a friend over Home Alone, but, of all my favorite holiday movies, that could very well be number one. A young kid is accidentally left home alone when his family leaves for their Christmas vacation and is left to defend his house from two robbers! One of the best parts about watching the movie as a kid were the house traps that Macaulay Culkin’s character set. They brought excruciating pain to these idiotic robbers. Wasn’t it every child’s dream at one point to be left home alone with no parents or rules? “Mom! Dad! I’m eating ice cream in your bed — come and stop me!” was a line from Culkin’s character that I always wished I would have a chance to yell at some point during my childhood. If not eating ice cream in bed, then how about setting a trap with your set of Micro Machines or faking a holiday party at your house with cardboard cut-outs and a blow-up clown? Let’s not fail to mention that the soundtrack to this movie is superior to any other holiday movie. So, why does my friend (read: ex-friend) think this movie is overrated? I guess for the same reasons that I don’t think Mrs. Doubtfire is one of the best movies ever made (I lost a different friend over that argument). Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on non-Home Alone fans. After all, I did recently blog about owning a disc man (I’m thinking about asking Santa for an iPod this year — maybe). I guess when it comes to childhood movies, it is less about the plot and more about the memories of watching the movie with such enthusiasm at the time. Maybe this holiday season, I will downgrade my security system to Micro Machines on the wood floor and tar on my front steps! -Courtney Centeno, account executive