From Northies to Nausea - Local Gymea Dad Overstimulated into Oblivion by four Kid's Parties in Two Days.

Skye Waverley | Social Reporter | Sutherland Shire Gazette

7 April 2025

GYMEA — Local dad of two, Troy Matheson, 42, is recovering at home after what experts are calling “the most intense sensory bender since Schoolies ‘99” — a back-to-back weekend circuit of kids’ birthday parties in venues across the Shire.

Matheson, who once proudly backed up three consecutive nights at Slide, Hunters and Northies during the golden era of the mid-2000s, says nothing could’ve prepared him for the sheer psychological onslaught of four sugar-fuelled kids' parties in 48 hours.

“It was the noise. The lights. The screams. The smell of sock sweat and artificial pizza,” Troy mumbled from under an ice pack. “By Sunday night I started hallucinating a jumping castle in my loungeroom. I begged someone to eject me.”

His weekend began innocently enough at Playcave, where he lost temporary hearing from a surprise Frozen karaoke session in Party Room 2. Things escalated at FlipOut, where he was accidentally double-bounced by a rogue 7-year-old called Zayden.

By the time he hit Inflatable World, Troy had consumed three party pies, two lukewarm lattes, and half a fairy bread triangle. “I peaked at 2pm Saturday and have been in decline since,” he confessed.

His wife, Mel, said she found him curled up in the laundry Monday morning whispering, “I miss DJ Carrot Top at Northies. It was quieter.”

Experts say party-related overstimulation in dads is on the rise, with some comparing the symptoms to “a hangover but with glitter and Bluey remixes.”

Troy has since vowed to “tap out” of the next party cycle and instead host a “quiet backyard sausage sizzle with zero inflatable devices.”

His mates from the old Hunters crew are reportedly proud.