Kate McCallister

Kate McCallister
Family	Penelope (mother or mother-in-law) Husband: Peter McCallister Children: Buzz McCallister (eldest son) Megan McCallister (older daughter) Linnie McCallister (younger daughter) Jeff McCallister (younger son) Kevin McCallister (youngest son) Nieces/nephews: Tracy McCallister (niece) Rod McCallister (nephew) Sondra McCallister (niece) Brooke McCallister (niece) Fuller McCallister (nephew) Heather McCallister (niece) Twins (nieces) Steffan McCallister (nephew) In-laws: Frank McCallister (brother-in-law) Leslie McCallister (sister-in-law) Rob McCallister (brother-in-law) Georgette McCallister (sister-in-law) Anna McCallister (daughter-in-law)
Actor	Catherine O'Hara Clare Carey
Appearances	Home Alone Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Home Alone 4 Just Me In The House By Myself (unseen)

"Kevin!"

Kate McCallister was the wife of Peter and the mother of Buzz, Megan, Linnie, Jeff, and Kevin.

She worked in the fashion industry as a clothing designer.

Biography

Trip to Paris

While packing for the McCallister family Christmas trip to Paris, France, Kate spoke on the phone, and Kevin came in, complaining about his uncle Frank. After making Kevin get out of her room, she wanted Peter to find a voltage adapter.

When the pizzas the family ordered arrived and were served, Kate dug into her wallet for some cash to give to the pizza boy, while also telling everyone present to finish the last gallon of milk since they were leaving the next day and that it should not go to waste. Then, when Buzz and Kevin fought over a cheese pizza, she came over and attempted to intervene; she grabbed Kevin by the arm and sent him to the third floor of the house.

After Kevin was sent upstairs, everyone else went to sleep. In the morning, while the doorbell rang, Kate checked her watch after seeing the alarm had reset. Noticing it was after 8am, she screamed to Peter and they both yelled, "We slept in!" The family then rushed out of the house and all the way to the airport, making their flight just in time.

During the flight, she felt as if she had forgotten something, eventually realizing that Kevin had been left home alone.

After the flight, she tried calling the police in Chicago from a phone stand in the Paris airport for assistance and soon decided to get back home as soon as she could, by herself. She was given an option to wait for a later flight, but she refused, fearing for Kevin's safety. She eventually reached Scranton, Pennsylvania but couldn't get a flight from there to Chicago. Luckily, a polka band led by Gus Polinski agreed to give her a ride home.

She arrived home on Christmas morning and wished Kevin a Merry Christmas. Also, she apologized to him for her harshness and actions during the night before departing to Paris and accidentally leaving him alone in the house. She and Kevin smiled at and hugged each other. Moments later, the others got home, and she asked how they came home all of the sudden, to which Peter responded that they took the morning flight, the one she did not want to wait for.

Trip to Florida

Kate talked with Kevin about their Christmas trip to Miami, Florida, with Kevin lamenting the fact that there were no Christmas trees in the city, something that he felt was inappropriate for the holiday. During the Christmas pageant that night, Kate along with Peter and Leslie watched Buzz using his candle and borrowing another boy's to put them behind Kevin's ears. After Kevin hit Buzz, Kate yelled out "Kevin!". Later, back at home during a meeting, when Buzz apologized to the family and to Kevin, Kate commended him. She then asked Kevin if he had an apology, but Kevin berated the family for believing Buzz and not him. When he tried to walk out, Kate called him out for it, and Peter threatened him with banishment to the third floor. Kate and Peter were then shocked at Kevin after he called Frank a cheapskate.

When Kevin was on the third floor, Kate told him that the last time the family tried to take a trip that they had a problem that started out the same way, and Kevin said "Yeah, with me getting crapped on." She told him that she did not care for his choice of words and that was not what happened last time and that Buzz apologized to him. Kevin then said he did, but then called him a trout sniffer, and that Buzz didn't mean what he said and that he was just sucking up to the family. She asked him to think things over and come down when he was ready to apologize to the family; however, he still insisted on not apologizing, remarking that he'd rather kiss a toilet seat, so she decided that he could stay up there for the rest of the night. Kevin said that was fine with him, as he was still disappointed about the trip to Miami and Kate told Kevin last time he got his wish and that he will do the same thing when he wished for his own vacation; to which Kevin replied in an agitated voice, "I hope so!"

That wish was granted after Kevin accidentally boarded the wrong plane. When the family discovered that Kevin was missing, Kate shouted out "KEVIN!" and fainted. She and Peter went to the police station to try to find Kevin, but the police had no sign of Kevin in Florida. The next day at a cheap motel the family was staying at, Kate got a call from the police saying that Kevin was in New York City and instructed everybody to pack up to go there, while at the same time, trying to correct Peter's assumption that Kevin had taken refuge at Rob's townhouse. She and the family arrived at the Plaza Hotel, where they confronted the staff for letting Kevin get away and asked what kind of hotel would allow a child to check in alone. Against the advice of Peter and concierge Mr. Hector, she ventured out to find her son by herself. When Mr. Hector told her that "there are hundreds of parasites out there, armed to the teeth", she angrily slapped him with her right glove, and he advised her to "bundle up. It's awfully cold outside."

She first tried to visit the townhouse but also realized that it is empty, causing her to take a taxi to Times Square. There, she had a hard time looking for Kevin. Suddenly, she remembered that he liked Christmas trees. She asked a policeman to kindly escort her to Rockefeller Center, which was host to the world's largest Christmas tree. Finally, she spotted Kevin looking at the tree. She and Kevin reconciled and apologized to each other. The two returned to the Plaza Hotel, and Kate told Kevin the family did not like the palm trees in Florida, just like him. On Christmas morning, after Buzz asked who Mr. Duncan was (Duncan having provided a large amount of presents to the family), Buzz reconciled with Kevin by giving him the first gift. Kate kissed Buzz on the cheek and opened presents with the family.

Separation from Peter

The following information comes from Home Alone 4, which has continuity problems with the first two films in the series.

Kate and Peter later separated and were planning to file for divorce. Peter moved out of the family home, leaving Kate with Kevin, Buzz, and Megan.

When Buzz and Megan were sitting on Kevin, Kate told them to get off of him, and told Megan to rehearse. She then went out and left Kevin and Buzz home and told them to do some chores. When she arrived back home, she asked Kevin how it went and he told her that it went awfully, thanks to Buzz.

She later received a phone call from Peter who told her that Kevin got to his and his girlfriend Natalie's house safely.

Kate met Natalie on Christmas Eve, before she and Peter got ready for their party and to bring the royal family to Natalie's house the next day.

After trying to speak with Kevin during static over the cellphone, she tried to get in touch with him again on the house phone. Molly answered and lied, saying he was with his father and Natalie, while he was actually trapped in the basement with Prescott. She tried to call Peter about Kevin, but he assured her that everything was okay at Natalie's place.

She, Buzz, and Megan headed out to Natalie's to see if Kevin was okay, and that he had caught the bad guys, Marv and Vera. After Marv and Vera tred to escape, Buzz and Megan went around the back to trip and hold them down until the police arrived. Both Kate and Peter hugged Kevin and apologized for not believing him about the bad guys in the first place.

After Natalie arrived to see Marv and Vera being taken into custody by the police, she was stunned to even believe that her maid, Molly, was also being arrested for being the mastermind behind their scheme. Natalie tried to get Peter to do something about the situation, and Peter admitted that everything at her place was meant more for her than for him. He then admitted that the entire time, all he ever did was miss his family, and decided that his place was with Kate and their kids. With that, he reconciled with Kate. Kate said, "I love you," which he said back to her.

The royal family decided to celebrate their Christmas with the McCallisters, leaving Natalie heart-broken and hyperventilating. The McCallisters and the royal family then celebrated what Kevin believed was "the best Christmas ever."

Home Alone 4 information ends here.

Later life

The following information comes from outside the main Home Alone franchise and therefore may not be reliable and/or officially acknowledged.

Sometime in the mid-2010s, Kate phoned Kevin whilst he was driving, but he hung up on her. His passenger, Jack, thought that Kevin was "ice cold" for doing this, but Kevin rebutted it by mentioning the trauma that he had received from Kate and the rest of his family.

Potentially unofficial information ends here.

Personality

Kate was a caring mother, though not without her faults. In addition to forgetting Kevin, she was easily swayed by her older son, Buzz. This was evident when she was convinced by his insincere apology to Kevin for humiliating him at the Christmas pageant when he did his solo. Nevertheless, she did make amends with Kevin both times he was accidentally left on his own.

Gallery

"Kevin, get upstairs right now."

"Yes, we hope to leave tomorrow morning."

"If you'll excuse me this one's a little out of sorts, I'll be right back."

"There are fifteen people in this house and you're the only one who has to make trouble."

Kate opens the door to the attic for Kevin, which she meant "upstairs in the first place"

"It's too late. Get upstairs."

(both) "WE SLEPT IN!"

"Kevin!"

"What kind of a mother am I?"

Trivia

• Kate goes through a different hairstyle in the three films. In Home Alone, her hairstyle was shoulder-length. In Home Alone 2, her hairstyle was a bowl-cut with an open bang. In Home Alone 4, her hairstyle was chin-length.
• Her job is not specified, but the first film's novelization by Todd Strasser reveals she is a fashion designer, which explains the mannequins present in the pretend-party scene made by Kevin to lure the Wet Bandits away from the house.