To determine subjective parental impressions following routine tonsillectomy we have interviewed the parents of 80 children 1 year following the procedure. Results show that the procedure carried a 100% parental satisfaction rating. All parents felt their child's symptoms of recurrent acute tonsillitis had improved and over 90% of parents felt their child's general health had improved. Sixty-four percent of the parent population reported a noticeable improvement in their child's sleeping pattern and over 30% described an improvement in their child's general behavior. Although this study reports subjective data, and we do not have a comparable control population, these findings provide an interesting insight into parental impressions regarding alterations in their child's health, sleep pattern and behaviour following this procedure.