Remember. Kevin McCallister could have phoned the police at any time. He was a child who had accidentally been left alone. One call and he would have been safe. But it was never about safety. He was hunting those men. He wanted them to die. It was fun for him. He enjoyed it.
Family. If someone had a gun to my head right now and asked me to do long division or die - I would call my mom and tell her goodbye and that I loved her.