We did this 2 mos before my oldest's 3rd birthday. The hardest thing was her reaction to the anesthesia. We'd done tubes but this procedures uses a higher level of anesthesia which really upset her stomach. She started waking up & was really upset & unnerved. They brought me in to hold her immediately & once she calmed a bit, we went up to the recovery room. When she woke up, she said her stomach hurt which the drs had said would be normal to expect. The nurses gave me a bit of a hard time that she wasn't old enough to tell me but I was insistent that they give me something for it and they did. It was a huge help, she went to sleep again & when she woke up, she stole some of the turkey off my hoagie. We walked around, played some games, had a couple of popsicles & when our dr came by around 4 that afternoon, he said she was fine to go home so we did. She ate an egg roll that night.
My oldest had the sleep apnea as well & when we got this done, she slept through the night for the first time ever.
She was active & we just let her set the pace. I didn't take her out for races but if she wanted to ride her bike in the driveway, I let her. She didn't ask for any pain medication until about the 8th day which is when the dr had said would be the worst probably because it is really healing at that point & getting tight.
I was prepared for her to be lazy & want to watch movies, etc. I had had mine out at 17 & it was horrendous. She didn't at all. I had a busy 2 wks w/ her.
The hardest thing was keeping her hydrated. I swear the neighbors must have thought I was training her for frat games as I stood outside while she rode her bike in circles around me & passed a cup to her & chanted "Chug, Chug, Chug!"