I looked up “quotes on consistency” for this post. What I found was in direct contradiction to what I was looking for. Oscar Wilde says, “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” Aldous Huxley said, “Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only complete consistent people are dead.”
For the sake of being a rock in the shoe, let’s address the latter point. My in-laws are the most consistent people you will ever meet; dinner at five, dinner at Dollar Scoop Chinese on Friday nights, small group every Thursday night, spaghetti for lunch on Wednesdays, and grocery shopping on Tuesday nights. Point is, they are consistent, and they aren’t dead.
Both quotes are made by writers. It surprises me that writers would reference consistency in this way, as most would say they have the same routine every day to accomplish their writing goals. Most inconsistent writers aren’t writers, they are wannabes.
I also wonder how consistency is contrary to nature. Don’t Monarch Butterflies migrate to Mexico every winter? Don’t deer follow the exact path each time they go to the water source, and isn’t that why it’s called a “game trail?” Don’t Salmon swim hundreds of miles back to their hatching grounds to spawn?
If nature is so dependent on consistency for it’s survival, wouldn’t humans need some of the same?
What about children who come from neglectful, abusive, and traumatizing situations where they didn’t know if they were going to eat again, who was going to take care of them, if they would be going to school not, or if they would celebrate their birthday.
Our hurting kids worry excessively, and the above mentioned scenarios are only a clip of their life movie. We can take action to relieve much of that anxiety.
Consistency and routine are two important aspects to helping our children feel safe and know what to expect.
By implementing consistency and routine in our children’s daily lives, we build trust, and trust is another key element in helping our hurting kids heal and attach. If a child cannot trust their primary caregivers, they will feel their life is spinning out of control.
If you spin around until your world becomes tipsy, what are you likely to do next? Probably look for something to stabilize yourself. You are going to try to gain back that control you lost. It’s the same with our kids. They want consistency and routine, when they know what to expect, it will cut down on the worry, the questions, and the behaviors that stem from not knowing what will happen next.
When our children don’t know what to expect, they will feel the same way they did in their neglectful and abusive situation.
They weren’t able to trust their previous caregiver, nor will they be able to trust you if they don’t know what’s happening day to day. They will feel lost and out of control. You can help them stabilize by providing a consistent environment that incorporates plenty of routine.
Here are some ideas on how to implement consistency and routine:
- If you say something, do it. This will require giving thought before you say anything, whether it be a plan you’re making, or a discipline you’re going to put into place.
- Keep daily and weekly routines as consistent as possible so your child knows what to expect each day. IF events in your week are going to be different, let your children know well ahead of time. Also, calendars are great ideas, something simple like a printed list of days and what happens on each one.
- Stick to bedtime and waking routines. This will also cut down on behaviors because they know what to do and what is expected.
Do you have consistency and routines in your every day life? Does it seem to help your kids? If you are a fly by the seat of your pants type, is there an area that you can begin to incorporate more consistency and routine?
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lovin' adoptin' & autism 
Great blog post, thank you! I am a person who loves routine and soon to be placed with an older child with the goal of adoption. It will be cool to see how things change and become a new routine!
So excited for your new addition!
Hi Tracy,
Would you recommend your parenting techniques for biological children who are probably pretty “normal”? I have a 3-year-old that is pretty defiant, but I’m guessing not out of the norm, and a 5-year-old who has just discovered how to smart off. Thanks for your input. I am enjoying your website. I have many friends who have adopted and who also foster troubled littles.
Hi, and thanks for reading & kind comments! I would recommend these parenting techniques for biological children, however I would add some. I would have more stringent guidelines for kids who don’t come from traumatic backgrounds. There are consequences for negative behavior, if a child is talking back I may have them write sentences. If they’re defiant at the park, they don’t get to go to the park the next time. It’s similar to what I would do with an adopted child after significant bonding has taken place. Hope this helps a little…