Why I needed butter for my baby at 2am

There are several reasons one might tell their partner to fetch the butter at 2 in the morning, Letea Cavander writes.

Letea Cavander with her daughter Tallulah Stuart at Coolum Beach. Picture: John McCutcheon

THERE are several reasons one might tell their partner to fetch the butter at 2 in the morning.

I'll leave you with that thought while I give a bit of background to the predicament we found ourselves in last week.

The women of one side of my family are known for having less than svelte thighs.

Most of us have pretty big legs.

I knew I was on the chunky side when my grannie turned to me one day and said "you have great thighs for horse riding".

This lifelong country woman meant it as a compliment, and I like that my legs are powerful and get me from A to B.

So no complaints about thigh size here.

For those of you who saw the photo of my daughter and me in the paper when this column started, you may have noticed that it is as if I stole my child.

She looks nothing like me.

But she has inherited my family's chunky thighs.

Back to our predicament.

Baby starts wailing in the early hours of the morning from her cot.

I try to pick her up, in the dark, and she does not budge.

Her leg is stuck between two cot rails.

I am pretty sure I made it worse by trying to pick her up, which means 'mum guilt' instantly kicks in.

I was raised a Catholic and was sure I knew guilt inside and out because of my childhood religious teachings.

Turns out I was wrong.

Mum guilt is by far the worst kind of guilt I have experienced.

But I digress. Back to the baby.

By now the wail is a full-blown howl.

She's scared, and I'm in panic mode but with enough sense to turn the light on.

I yell to my partner to fetch the butter.

He has learnt in the past year it is best not to question my requests, no matter how bizarre, and stumbles to the kitchen to get the grease.

He returns and, as I baste my baby's thigh, he calmly moves her a little to one side and lifts her out of the cot.

Crisis averted.

I feel sheepish but I'm glad the baby is OK.

And despite the fiasco, I'm also happy she has the same powerful legs as her mother.

Letea Cavander is a freelance journalist. Get in contact on Facebook via Letea Cavander Journalist or on Instagram @leteacavander.