Jeff Hajny

    Someone is always there. That is what Tonia Nantkes of Utica wants her kids to know.
     Nantkes was recently selected by American Mothers Inc.-Nebraska as Nebraska's 2008 Young Mother of the Year.
     "It meant a lot. I made me feel like I'm doing something right," Nantkes said. "You don't really know how big something like this is until you sit back and think about it."
     Nantkes grew up in Wyoming and graduated from Concordia University in 2000.
     Following graduation, she worked at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.
     "My daughter, who was about four at the time, kept saying 'Mom, I want you to be home,'" Nantkes said.
     She left the penintentiary and taught Sunday School in Staplehurst.
     "I just loved it so I got my Lutheran Teaching degree in 2005," she said.
     Tonia and her husband, Jamie, have two children, nine year-old daughter Karen and seven-year-old Dylan. Both attend Centennial Public School.
     Nantkes has a very basic approach to her parenting.
     "I believe in using communication and love and in between those you will get respect," she said. "If you want respect from your kids, you have to earn it.
     "The most important thing is to love them and to always be there for them. As a parent, you don't get an instruction manual so you have to expect the unexpected."
     Nantkes also wants to emphasize that someone is always there for her children.
     "I want my kids to know that God will always be there for them even when I am not. It is important for them to know that someone is always there," she said.
     Some of her influences include not only her parents, but her husband's as well.
     "I think I draw from my faith a lot. My parents helped with that. My husband's family also added influence so we get the best of both deals," she said.
     Nantkes will receive her award at a ceremony held at the State Capitol building on Friday, April 4.
     She will then attend the National Convention at the end of April at the capitol building, where a national winner will be chosen.
     "I'm looking forward to it," she said. "It means an awful lot that someone thought enough of me to give me this award."