Consistency Across The Board?

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When our youngest son was three years of age or so,he started to throw tantrums when asked to take a bath or the like.It became a concern as his color would change to blue,his head would bang on a wall etc.It was apparent I required help before he did himself a injury. Our family doctor was on holidays and in his place their just happened to be a paediatrician.I explained the circumstances for my visit,in turn he gave me a analogy. Mother is preparing dinner,she hears her children loudly in their room, when she investigates she is confronted with a huge mess.Immediatley then goes into the usual spool,tidy up the room and quiten down.An hour passes,mum goes to the room only to find it still in a mess,and the children missing.She then cleans the mess,and calls the children in for dinner.Next day same senario,except mum is not in the same good mood as the previous day.The children are told to clean up their mess,and further more they are given a punishment.Confusion in the minds of the children immediately sets in, thus creating more problems furhter down the line.They can not understand why yesterday they were "not" punished,today they "were" for the same actions.The doctor's advice was I must be prepared to follow through with a threat or a promise before making a commitment.This I found to be sound advice,and wonder now if used in everyday life perhaps many things could be changed. What are your thoughts on this?