Kids Place Live’s Mindy Thomas: The playdate mom friend you’ll never actually meet

Mindy Thomas is my kind of radio personality.

Five years ago, that sentence would have read: “Howard Stern is my kind of radio personality.”

Funny how kids can change even the most basic of sentences. Funny how my love for Howard led me to Mindy.

Let me explain: Before having children, I was a D.O.H. (Disciple of Howard) — would listen to the The King of All Media’s SiriusXM program on repeat every day. This is no exaggeration; I treated it as if it was my favorite record and kept it on repeat. Then, when my children arrived, my SiriusXM stayed, but Howard and I agreed to see other people.

Enter Kids Place Live, SiriusXM channel 78, devoted exclusively to kids music — hold your groans, it’s not what you think. Enter Mindy Thomas, the station’s program director and host of “The Absolutely Mindy Show” (weekdays from 7–10 a.m.).

A native of Tampa, Fla., and mother of two, Thomas’ on-air persona is the perfect play date parent: a quick-witted, fun-loving mom who knows how to talk to kids respectfully, while still playfully holding a conversation with the parents in the room. The type of playdate that makes you feel like It’s ok to crack a beer while the kids play trains.

Off air, she is a seasoned radio professional, willing to chat about the biz, the kids and life, in general.

“While I was getting my degree (in TV News Broadcasting from the University of South Florida), I was working at an insurance office and I was going nuts,” she recalled. “One day, I just had enough, so I went home and called every radio and TV station in the phone book, looking for anything.”

While the position she landed was an entry level position in the promotions department, it was her water-cooler vocal imitations that brought her into the studio to work with a now-iconic conservative radio talk-show host.

“Glenn Beck, believe it or not, heard some of the imitations I was doing while I was goofing off and he started having me in to the studio doing some voices, like his boss and stuff,” Thomas said.

Coincidentally, Thomas’ graduation from USF (Go Bulls!) was remarkably close to the launch of XM Radio — which, of course, has since merged with its rival Sirius. Add to the mix a coworker who was leaving terrestrial radio for XM and the fresh-out-of-college Thomas checked the roster of channels, only to find her calling.

“To be truthful, I didn’t even know if I wanted to stay in radio,” she admitted. “Then I saw there was a kids’ channel, and I knew that’s what I would do.”

Hired more than a decade ago by now-coworker and KPL host Kenny Curtis (“Kenny Curtis and the Animal Farm,” weekdays 3–5 p.m.), Thomas immediately relocated to the DC area following graduation, and has been KPLing it up since.

Of course, that isn’t to say that it’s all fun and games. After all, Thomas and her station are still broadcasting in a world with some pretty horrible realities — none more horrible than the Newtown school shootings of 2012. As a parent, Thomas knew this was a sticky but important topic to work around on that tragic afternoon. (On a personal note, my wife still credits Thomas’ broadcast with helping her cope and parent through the pain we all felt that day.)

“News broke 30 minutes before I went on the air,” Thomas recalled. “I was sitting at my desk bawling. The last thing I wanted to do is go on the radio and do a silly kids show. I made a decision … that we’re an escape to the real world. I don’t want to make kids ask their parents questions about it. After all, they are purposely turning on our channel to escape it.

“All you want to do is grab your kids and hold them in those moments,” she continued. “We decided to turn it into a holiday for parents, and we did it kind of on the fly. I think we called it ‘Give someone an extra hug day.’ I was encouraging parents to pull over the car and give their kids a hug. And we played songs that maybe were a little sappier, Beatles and stuff. The parents knew why, and the kids just knew they were getting extra hugs and their parents were acting weird.”

Still unsure if you want to introduce your kids to Mindy and Kids Place Live? I get it. There are some doors that you never want to open. Trust me, though, this one can help make your car rides a little easier to handle. You won’t get Bababooyed, but you will laugh out loud. I promise.

Check out this post for a deeper dig into the KPL playlist.