I personally think that if you make sure they know it's the behaviour you don't like and not them personally then it's ok to tell them how your feeling and to show emotion. I think it's also important to promote empathy in children once they are able to understand the language. I know lots of adults that aren't very empathetic and they usually aren't that great to be around. The whole consequence thing is tricky and it depends on how you parent as to how effective or how well they understand them. Eg I think the attitude not to have any breakables in the house is great but there comes a time when children need to learn to respect other peoples belongings and this is a good thing to teach. In saying that children are egotistic and need help to achieve these skills. Asking lots of open ended questions when they are old enough (say 2-3+) like "how do you think that makes me feel when you do that(whatever it is)?" or "how would you feel if something you loved got broken" is a good thing I think. Anyway I suppose what i'm trying to say is that IMO we shouldn't be afraid to talk about our feelings with our children because hopefully when they are able they will openly talk about their feelings and emotions rather then bottling it up.