Our family drove to North Bend to hop aboard the Santa Train that travels into Snoqualmie where the kids get to sit on Santa’s lap and warm up with a hot chocolate. If you have kids and live in the Seattle area I highly recommend this activity if you can still find tickets which sell out quickly.
But I noticed something about the people who organized this activity: they were mostly volunteers and they were genuinely happy to see the kids and perform their job. Most were over the age of 50 from what I could tell. As we waited in line for about an hour, several of the volunteers talked with those in line, telling jokes and sharing the history of the train. On the ride, several volunteers went from coach to coach singing Christmas carols and having a blast with the kids. One volunteer had a hat full of bells (Mr. Bells was his name according to his name tag) and he took extra time to give each child extra attention.
I suppose it would be possible to find people who loved to be around kids and pay them to perform the same duties as those volunteers. But I doubt they would have done a better job. Those who would volunteer to be around noisy and rambunctious kids all day would have to enjoy the experience and enjoy the kids. Whatever the reasons they chose to select volunteers, it was the right choice for this family activity.
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