Can I take my kids out dashing with me?

I've written about taking your significant other with you before while you are out dashing, but what about your kids? How pleasant, or unpleasant will it be to take your kids with you while out dashing? Is it even allowed? Will customers or merchants complain? How would Doordash feel about it?

Does Doordash allow dashers to take their kids with them while they are out dashing?

There is no official rule from Doordash stating that a dasher cannot take their kids with them. Honestly, Doordash is wise to not say anything about the subject. If they said that dashers could not take their kids with them, they would sound like an employer, and that is something Doordash definitely does not want to do.

Why is a dasher able to take their kids?

Because they are independent contractors. That means that they work for themselves and are their own boss. When you are an independent contractor, nobody can tell you that you cannot take your kids with you. You can take whoever you want. You are the boss!

If dashers were employees of Doordash, it would be a whole different story. An employer can tell their employees that they cannot have their kids with them while working. The rules that an employee and independent contractor have to abide by are very different.

Will customers or merchants complain if a dasher has their kids with them?

Unless a child is a nuisance for some reason, I very much doubt that any merchant or customer will ever complain about somebody's child. When picking up food from a restaurant, it's fine to take your kid in with you if you are going inside the restaurant. The workers will not care if your kid is with you. I mean, is it really any of their business anyways?

The only way a merchant might notice is if a parent is sending a very young kid in to pick up the Doordash order for them. There may be some restaurants that will not like this, but I'd like to think that most dashers wouldn't do this. With older teenage kids this might work, but not the very young ones.

When it comes to Doordash customers, most of them will not even know that a dasher has their child in the car with them. The only way that they would know is if they walked up to the car. Some customers do this, but I would say it's only about 1 percent of customers. 

Just like the merchant, I'd say that it's none of the customer's business who's in the car anyways. If a customer doesn't like it that's on them. Let's be realistic though, most customers don't care if you have your kid with you in the car. If they do care, they're probably a person always looking for problems anyways; so you were probably going to get a 1 star rating anyways so just move on and don't worry about it.

Kids can be expensive if you take them dashing with you

If you take your kid with you dashing, it's most likely going to cost you. Do you really think that you can take your young kids with you, make a pick up at McDonalds and have them not want anything? Do you really think that your kids see a difference between normal time out in the world driving around and dashing time? Nope, that's not how it works and any parent knows that!

If you're making a pick up at McDonalds, and the call is going to pay you $8, you may end up not making anything as your kid(s) will probably have you spend more than that by buying them some food. If you have older kids it will be the same thing, it probably won't be McDonalds though. It'll most likely be something even more expensive!

If you are out there really trying to make money and don't want the expense, you may want to think twice about taking your kids with you while out dashing. One time I took three of my kids with me and spent about $30 on food and drinks. All I made during my 4 hour shift was $40. It really wasn't what I expected. The one good thing that came out of it was spending some quality time with my kids, but as far as making money was concerned, it was a big waste of time!

Taking your kids dashing with you when you have no choice

We should all be fully aware that there are some dashers out there that have no choice but to take their kid(s) with them while dashing. If the kids are very young and can't be left home alone, a dasher will have to take their kids with them. I know some people might say that maybe they shouldn't dash, but I do understand that sometimes people have to do what they have to do.

I'm sure most people don't want to take their toddler out for hours with them while they are dashing, and I'm sure it's never a normal everyday thing, but when there is a situation when it must be done, then so be it. That's one of the great things about these app based gig economy jobs, it gives people in a situation like this the opportunity to make ends meat.

The age of the kid you take dashing with you does matter

I've taken my older teenage kids with me dashing before as well as my younger elementary school aged children, and no matter what ager your kids are, they will all eventually get bored while out there dashing with you. Of course, not all kids are the same, and some are a bit more pleasant for a parent to spend countless hours with on the road than others.

One of my daughters was always pleasant to take dashing. She would never complain and actually enjoyed going dashing with me. We would sing together, joke around and have a good time together. This would go on until she got tired and then would eventually fall to sleep in the back seat of the car.

With most of my other kids it is a different story. They will be having fun at first, but after about an hour or so, they will want to go home. They will become extremely bored. If they have a gadget such as a cell phone or something to play games on they will last a bit longer, but eventually they will complain that they want to go home. 

Dashing with your kids can be a great thing to do for a parent that wants to spend some quality time with their kid(s.) If you have never done it before and are thinking about it, just be aware that your kid(s) will eventually get bored. I don't care what kind of super fun parent you think you are. Would I recommend taking your children dashing with you? Heck yeah! Take those monsters out with you!