When Ocean Finance recently got in touch to ask if I’d like to enter their exclusive blogger competition, Second Time Lucky, I had to really wrack my brains to think of something. The winner scoops an amazing £300 to put towards re-creating, or indeed creating, a dream that just hasn’t worked out for them so far.

I guess I’m pretty lucky as there really isn’t anything that I haven’t achieved in my life. Okay, Craig and I didn’t have many dates on our own before I found myself pregnant with the little dude, and he might have proposed but he’s yet to replace the Hula Hoop he slipped on my finger with something infinitely more shiny, but I’m pretty happy with my lot. I’m totally smitten with my guy and the kids (rightly) have the ability to make me melt and want to dive head first into oncoming traffic - I’m not one to regret things, and I’d struggle to find anything to seriously moan about anyway.

So when I put the question to Craig I was expecting his eyebrows to meet in the middle a little, much like mine did. I naively thought he’d say his life was perfect in every way too. Irritatingly though, he rolled off several things. It was a little like the world’s most expensive Generation Game.

The thing is, many of the things he listed were totally impossible to bring to life. He totally missed out on Heidi’s first steps, Dexter’s first attempt at Tree Fu Tom’s dance moves, and the first time he managed to use the potty without tipping its contents onto the carpet (don’t ask. Just don’t ask).

I hadn’t realised Craig felt so put out by this. I always text him the moment things happen, then pester the kids all evening to perform their latest trick for daddy in the evenings. Of course this rarely goes to plan - I wouldn’t advise encouraging your child to do a roly poly after plying him with lasagne for example - but they’ll inevitably pull off the same clumsy stunt at the weekend for him.

But I guess it’s not as cool if you missed it the first time.

Still, there’s little I can do about it, right?

Well no.

It got me thinking that if I had a video recorder to capture all the antics, as they happen, then Craig can see the day through our eyes (and maybe appreciate he’s a lot better off sat in his van at work rather than knee deep in nappies and Lego). Now I can just hear you all scoffing “Why don’t you just use your iPhone? You stupid bint“, but unfortunately my other half had a bit of a mare and got me one with the most pathetic memory known to man - on contract. Seriously, I have to delete an app just to take a photo. With a year and half left to go on this contract, there’s no chance of an upgrade either. Yes, he’s nagged at least a million times a night about this oversight.

On the rare occasion, I have whipped it out, I manage to get a thumb in the shot, or shoot it in the wrong orientation. Needless to say, I’m pretty handy with my Canon, but a right disappointment with my iPhone.

So Ocean Finance, in order to help me share precious memories with the hardest working man in Britain, I fancy one of these…

Smart, sexy and looks great against any outfit (enough about me), this Canon LEGRIA HF R606 would allow me to take videos and post them to YouTube without people leaving comments to wish me all the best with my Parkinson’s Disease. More importantly it’ll allow me to make my other half smile more than he already does - I can’t think of a better dream to fulfill than that. I can’t make up for all the moments he’s missed, but I can make sure he doesn’t miss any new ones.

***

For an opportunity to win your own dream, head on over to Ocean Finance where you can submit your own entry or vote for other people to win theirs. Whether you regret that low key first birthday party for your child, have relatives in Australia you’ve never seen, or you fancy a career change and want to take a Open University course to make it happen, just tell Ocean Finance what you’ve missed out on to see if they can make it happen! The comp runs until the 11th May and one winner will scoop £5000 towards that dream (with 7 people awarded spot prizes of £300) Enter HERE

* This is my entry into the Ocean Finance Second Time Lucky campaign for bloggers*